AFTER MANY A SUMMER DIES THE SWAN

by Aldous Huxley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 25, 1939

This is the perfect choice for your intellectuals, but it is Huxley-plus so not likely to click with the uninitiate, unless on the snob appeal basis. He continues the positive turn which began in Eycless in Gaza, in a strange gallimaufry of hyper-intellectualism, satire, fantasy and erudition. The setting is the Hollywood estate of a multimillionaire, Mr. Stoyte, fat, obtuse, repellent, who buys his culture as compensation for his inferiorities. With him is his doctor, the saturnine Obispo, who keeps Stoyte young with injections, his doll-faced ex-chorine, and the Englishman imported to catalogue his collection of Hauberk papers. There is a modicum of plot; the book consists primarily of wicked and witty descriptions, interspersed with topical subjects (all Huxley speaking through one mouthpiece). By the close, Huxley builds up a demonstration of his basic theorem, ""potential evil is in Time"". Paradoxical, fatiguingly brilliant, controversial, demanding real concentration on the part of the reader. The West Coast comes in for some beckling, adroitly introduced. -- For a highly specialized market.

Pub Date: Jan. 25, 1939

ISBN: 1566630185

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1939

Categories: FICTION