Description
A first edition, first printing of Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse, published by Michael Joseph, London in 1958. A near fine copy inscribed in blue ink to the front free end paper, pushing to the head of the spine, toning to the text block, some light spotting to prelims and ghosting to front and rear free end papers. In a very good price clipped wrapper, chipping and open tears to the spine tips, chipping to knuckles of front and rear flap folds, fading to the spine and rubbing to the hinges, browning to the rear panel with closed tears to lower edge, damp stain to lower knuckle of rear flap fold. Wrapper design by William Belcher.
Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse is a darkly comic novel about Billy Fisher, a bored young clerk in a Yorkshire town who escapes his drab reality through elaborate daydreams of heroism and grandeur. Caught between family pressures, romantic entanglements and his own dishonesty, Billy longs for a bigger life yet sabotages chances to change. With wit and poignancy, Waterhouse portrays the tensions between fantasy and responsibility, making Billy both frustrating and sympathetic as a symbol of youthful disillusionment.
