"Our best novelist"—Frank Kermode: MURIEL SPARK—Loitering With Intent

Description: • For Your Consideration: • A (Scarce) First-Edition HARDCOVER of: • “LOITERING WITH INTENT: A NOVEL” (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1981) (Hardcover, First Edition) • BY MURIEL SPARK • “MURIEL SPARK has written some of the best sentences in English.” —STEPHEN SCHIFF, THE NEW YORKER • “Our best novelist.” —FRANK KERMODE, LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS • “MURIEL SPARK published twenty-two novels in her lifetime, in spite of beginning relatively late at the age of thirty-nine, and at least half of them are classics by the only criterion that really matters—they invite and reward repeated reading. She was the most original and innovative British novelist writing in the second half of the twentieth century, extending the possibilities of fiction for other writers as well as herself.” —DAVID LODGE, NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS • ABOUT THIS TITLE: • In 1981, LOITERING WITH INTENT was Short-Listed for THE BOOKER PRIZE • “One of MURIEL SPARK’s most accomplished moral fables or puzzles: it provides considerable insight and wit, and no easy answers.”—A. S. BYATT • “I read this book in a delirium of delight…. MISS SPARK returns to the early flawless form of MEMENTO MORI and THE COMFORTERS, her dazzling first novel, which prompted GRAHAM GREENE to send her enough money to write her second novel free of financial constraint…. LOITERING WITH INTENT, robust and full-blooded, is a wise and mature work, and a brilliantly mischievous one.” —BARBARA GRIZZUTTI HARRISON, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW • “One of SPARK’s very best novels—funny and clever and surprising.” —THE NEW REPUBLIC • “I found it a delight from start to finish—funny, unexpected and compulsively readable—a strange, immensely enjoyable novel.” —AUBERON WAUGH, DAILY MAIL • “It has exuberant freshness. It is constantly inventive. It has wit and grace. It is intelligent. It shimmers with love. It is short.” —PETER TINNISWOOD, THE TIMES • “It is lyrical, joyous, formally close to perfect.” —JENNY TURNER, THE GUARDIAN • “This literary joyride is thoroughly appealing.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY • “As well as exploring the characters of 20 or so hilarious and cruelly-conceived people, we are made to think about the very nature of perception itself, the illusions which enable us to claim knowledge of other minds. We can only see the world in our own way unless we see it through the eyes of great art…. Every word of LOITERING WITH INTENT, arcane, inconsequential and epigrammatic, could have been written by no one but MRS SPARK.” —A. N. WILSON, THE SPECTATOR • “It goes without saying that LOITERING WITH INTENT is beautifully written. It is also exciting, at times, and often very funny. MURIEL SPARK’s dry fluency used to be compared with IVY COMPTON-BURNETT’s; now it seems to resemble BECKETT’s.” —JEREMY TREGLOWN, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT • “SPARK’s story sparkles throughout. There is some adventure, some mystery, and some serious subjects are broached as well -- but it is all done in good jolly fun. Loitering with Intent is filled with wicked humour, written in crisp sentences. It is a pleasure to read: here is someone who has mastered the craft, who knows how to write (as so few authors do nowadays).” —THE COMPLETE REVIEW (WEBSITE) •• ABOUT THE AUTHOR: • “A major twentieth-century writer and an extraordinary and unique talent: her gifts were unusual—a piercing eye; an acute ear; an incisive, often caustic wit; a voice so distinctive; and a style so inimitable.” —CHICAGO SUN TIMES • “Far and away our best woman writer.”—PENELOPE MORTIMER • “A marvelously witty English writer.”—TENNESSEE WILLIAMS • “A rare writer—wickedly funny—astonishingly talented—and truly inimitable.” —SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE • “The divine SPARK.” —CLAIRE TOMLIN, THE INDEPENDENT • “Witty, exacting, and wholly original. MURIEL SPARK’s writing is sui generis, her influence unquantifiable”—MAUD NEWTON • “MURIEL SPARK is the master of malice and mayhem.”—MICHIKO KAKUTANI, NEW YORK TIMES • “All homage to MURIEL SPARK, the coolest writer ever to scald your liver and your lights.”—WASHINGTON POST • “A wonderful writer.” —JAMES WOODS • “One of the most decisive and unmistakable voices in contemporary fiction…. SPARK concocts a present-tense deadpan that is at once lyrical, extravagant, and gruesomely funny.”—STEPHEN SCHIFF, THE NEW YORKER • “SPARK is an enduring literary influence.”—VOGUE • “SPARK is always a great read.”—LIBRARY JOURNAL • • For other details about this book, please see below. •TITLE: “LOITERING WITH INTENT: A Novel”AUTHOR: MURIEL SPARK TYPE: HARDCOVER PAGES: 217 PUBLISHER, LOCALE, & YEAR: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan (New York), 1981 EDITION: First US Edition, First Printing* *RE: On the Copyright Page, the following statement: “First American Edition, 1981” NOTE: This copy is NOT ex-library NOR a book-club edition. ISBN: 0-698-11047-1 CONDITION OF DUST JACKET: VERY GOOD.DJ is lightly age-toned but also bright & clean. Top corners & top spine tip are chipped; bottom spine tip & bottom corners are rubbed. Light shelf-wear at edges includes minute cuts. Minor scratching on sides. (Now protected in a Brodart archival cover.) CONDITION of BOOK ITSELF: VERY GOOD PLUS.Book is square. Boards are clean with light scuffing. Corners are fine. Spine is tight—and uncreased. Spine tips are faintly bumped. Text-block edges & endpapers are fine. Pages are v. bright & clean—with no writing, no doodles, no tears, no stains, no foxing, etc. LOOKS UNREAD. SHIPPING NEWS: This book will be wrapped with care before being shipped in a cushioned and sturdy box. THANK YOU! ********************** /\___/\=•ᆺ•= “We believe it’s good business to be good to our customers.” *********** FLAPPINCAT’s HOUSE RULES ***********1. GENERAL TREATMENT. We enjoy treating FLAPPINCAT customers with honesty & respect & warmth because that’s how we like to be treated when we buy things on eBay.2. GENERAL ATTITUDE. We are grateful you choose to trust us with your business. We aim for that gratitude to permeate every part of how we engage with you.3. OUR DESCRIPTIONS. We describe every item we sell as clearly and accurately as we can. 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Price: 45 USD

Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina

End Time: 2024-11-14T12:24:26.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.99 USD