Nights at the Circus

Carter, Angela

First edition. Chatto & Windus, The Hogarth Press, London, 1984. Hardcover, 294 pp. Red cloth binding in near fine condition, but for some fading on the top edge of spine, and a few foxing spots on the bookedge. Dust jacket is largely bright and clean, but the spine is considerably sunned. Some foxing on top edge of flaps, and alongside the top edge of its verso. At the time of its publication, this novel's excess was the reason for some critics dislike of it. Undeniably, that is a moral criticism. The action-packed, rich with images narrative showcases a world and aesthetic that opposes the highbrow, intellectual masculinity that ruled the literary world. The more negative reception of Nights at the Circus, one of bafflement and confusion in the face of the whirlwind that is the story, is in fact baked into the narrative, embodied by the journalist Jack Walser, who was inspired by Jack London. Fevvers, like Nights at the Circus, is too much; too much to contend with, too much to rationalise. A lovely first edition of one of Carter's most celebrated works.