Chapman's Odyssey...Author: Paul Bailey and similar items

Format: Paperback; ISBN: 9781608198214; Release Date: 2012; List Price: $16.00; Publisher: Bloomsbury; Length: 211 pages; Edition: 1st (US). Condition: Very Good. Discarded library copy with usual stamps, stickers, etc. Cover still looks excellent, binding is strong, and pages are not underlined or highlighted. In overall great shape. Same cover design as that shown here. Synopsis: So here he was at last, where he had long feared to be. Harry Chapman is not well, and he doesn't like hospitals. Superficially all is as it normally is in such places, with nurses to chide him and a priest to console. But there are more than usual quotient of voices - is it because of Dr. Pereira's wonder drug that he can hear the voice of his mother, acerbic and disappointed in him as ever? Perhaps her presence would be understandable enough, but what is Pip from Great Expectations doing here? More and more voices add their differing notes and stories to the chorus, squabbling, cajoling, commenting. Friends from childhood, lovers, characters from novels and poetry. His father, fighting in the First World War. Babar and Celeste, who dances with Fred Astaire. Jane Austen's Emma. His aunt Rose, "a stranger to moodiness". Christopher Smart's cat Jeoffrey. A man who wants to sell him T.S. Eliot's teeth. Virginia Woolf, the scourge of servants. And, of course, an old friend who turns up at his bedside principally to rehearse the litany of his own ailments. Slowly, endearingly, the life of Harry Chapman coalesces before our eyes, through voices real and unreal. Written with a gentle, effortless generosity, full of delicate observation, Chapman's Odyssey is the work of a master; a superbly rendered act of storytelling and ventriloquism that is waspish, witty, deeply moving and wise by turns and which constantly explores "the unsolvable enigma of love". Priority Mail delivery for this item costs $6.00 at the request of a buyer. Otherwise, the shipping rate given here applies to orders shipped either First Class or Media Mail (depending on product type and package size) within the U.S. only. Orders consisting of multiple purchases packaged together ship by any of these delivery methods at a discounted rate, usually for only $1.00 per additional item plus the shipping fee for the first item (determined to be the one with the highest delivery charge). International buyers: please contact us with your destination country for applicable base shipping rates. Multiple purchases that are packaged together save shipping costs for you, too! Payment is expected within two weeks of placing your order for the first item within a shipment. Paypal is preferred, but money orders and checks (either personal or cashier's) are also accepted. Orders typically ship within 48 hours of PROCESSED payment, excluding weekends and holidays. Inquiries from all shoppers are responded to promptly and courteously. Buyers are encouraged to ask questions prior to placing orders, as all sales are final unless the product you receive differs significantly from that which was advertised here in terms of either the product itself or its promised condition. In other words, "buyer's remorse" does not qualify for a refund. In other words, ?buyer?s remorse? does not qualify for a refund. Exceptions are made only in the event that a buyer is willing to return at his or her own expense an unopened, BRAND NEW item for a refund of the original purchase price only. No original shipping costs will be refunded, unless we are at fault for sending you the wrong item or misrepresenting the product and/or its condition. This hasn?t happened yet, but if it does: you are guaranteed a refund of the purchase price, the original shipping fee, PLUS the cost to ship the item back to us. In addition, we promise that no retaliatory feedback will be left for negative comments received on such transactions. We stand behind our service, and accept responsibility for any mistakes made. Thank you for looking!