Tactical Exercise [Love Among the Ruins]

Boston: Little, Brown, 1954. First Printing. Hardcover. Fine/Fine-. First and only Edition (never published in the United Kingdom), including the first American appearance of Love Among the Ruins (published in England as a separate book). 8vo: [6],289,[1]pp. Publisher's finely woven sea-green cloth, spine lettered in gold, dust jacket illustrated by Lester M. Peterson and priced $3.75. A clean, fresh copy (apparently unread); about Fine unfaded jacket (spine ends gently rubbed, white lettering on spine panel lightly toned). Davis XXXIX. A collection of short pieces, opening with "The Curse of the Horse Race," which Waugh supposedly wrote when he was seven years old. Eight of the other twelve pieces were written before and during the Second World War, including the title story, then titled "The Wish. Also included are "Love Among the Ruins," a fantasy of the future and satire set in a dystopian quasi-egalitarian Britain, featuring Miles Plastic, who falls in love with Clara, a bearded woman and inmate of a state-run euthanasia center where Plastic works, and "Mr. Loveday's Little Outing," another satire set in another institution, this time a psychiatric one . N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).