After the Fireworks: Three Novellas (Harper Perennial Olive Editions)

Aldous Huxley, Gary Giddins

$10.00

Publication Date: September 6th, 2022

Publisher:

Harper Perennial

ISBN:

9780063269613

Pages:

416

Description

"After the Fireworks is a major work and a turning point for Huxley, leading directly to Brave New World.” —Gary Giddins

A striking collection of three lost classic pieces of short fiction by Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, now available as a Harper Perennial Olive Edition.

In the title novella, set in Rome, a renowned novelist sets out on a walk down Via Condotti toward the Spanish Steps when he encounters a mysterious and beautiful young American admirer of his work. He discovers she shares a name, in addition to conspicuous personality traits, with a character from his most celebrated book. Both are irresistibly drawn into a dangerous affair set against the backdrop of the Italian capital. "Uncle Spencer" is the story of an aging World War I veteran’s quest for his lost love he met in a prison during the war, and "Two or Three Graces" is the tale of a passionate and destructive writer’s abusive relationship with an impressionable, bourgeois housewife. This extraordinary story collection reveals Huxley at the height of his literary powers.

This book part of a special series from Harper Perennial called Olive Editions—exclusive small-format editions of some of our bestselling and celebrated titles, featuring beautiful and unique hand-drawn cover illustrations. All Olive Editions are available for a limited time only

About the Author

Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) is the author of the classic novels Brave New World, Island, Eyeless in Gaza, and The Genius and the Goddess, as well as such critically acclaimed nonfiction works as The Perennial Philosophy and The Doors of Perception. Born in Surrey, England, and educated at Oxford, he died in Los Angeles, California.

Praise for After the Fireworks: Three Novellas (Harper Perennial Olive Editions)

“’After the Fireworks’ is a major work and a turning point for Huxley, leading directly to Brave New World.” — Gary Giddins

“The psychology of the two individuals is shrewdly mastered. . . . After the Fireworks displays on Huxley’s part a rare but genuine if elusive sympathy as well as a sound perception of human shortcomings.” — New York Times (on After the Fireworks)

“Brilliant. . . . I doubt if there is another living novelist as capable of taking in so much at a glance.” — The Spectator UK (on After the Fireworks)

“Two or Three Graces is probably the thing nearest perfection of all that he has done.” — New Statesman UK (on Two or Three Graces)

“It takes an artist of more than usual gifts to produce 137 quietly exquisite pages in order to lead up to such a delightfully ironical tiger-or-lady ending as that of ‘Uncle Spencer.’” — Literary Review on (Uncle Spencer)

“Aldous Huxley endures as one of the most visionary and unusual minds of the twentieth century.” — Maria Popova, Brain Pickings