Items related to A Handful of Dust (Everyman's Library)
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
Evelyn Waugh’s 1934 novel is a bitingly funny vision of aristocratic decadence in England between the wars. It tells the story of Tony Last, who, to the irritation of his wife, is inordinately obsessed with his Victorian Gothic country house and life. When Lady Brenda Last embarks on an affair with the worthless John Beaver out of boredom with her husband, she sets in motion a sequence of tragicomic disasters that reveal Waugh at his most scathing.
The action is set in the brittle social world recognizable from Decline and Fall and Vile Bodies, darkened and deepened by Waugh’s own experience of sexual betrayal. As Tony is driven by the urbane savagery of this world to seek solace in the wilds of the Brazilian jungle, A Handful of Dust demonstrates the incomparably brilliant and wicked wit of one of the twentieth century’s most accomplished novelists.
Evelyn Waugh’s 1934 novel is a bitingly funny vision of aristocratic decadence in England between the wars. It tells the story of Tony Last, who, to the irritation of his wife, is inordinately obsessed with his Victorian Gothic country house and life. When Lady Brenda Last embarks on an affair with the worthless John Beaver out of boredom with her husband, she sets in motion a sequence of tragicomic disasters that reveal Waugh at his most scathing.
The action is set in the brittle social world recognizable from Decline and Fall and Vile Bodies, darkened and deepened by Waugh’s own experience of sexual betrayal. As Tony is driven by the urbane savagery of this world to seek solace in the wilds of the Brazilian jungle, A Handful of Dust demonstrates the incomparably brilliant and wicked wit of one of the twentieth century’s most accomplished novelists.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
"All over England people were waking up, queasy and despondent."
From the Publisher:
Few writers have walked the line between farce and tragedy as nimbly as Evelyn Waugh, who employed the conventions of the comic novel to chip away at the already crumbling English class system. His 1934 novel, A Handful of Dust, is a sublime example of his bleak satirical style: a mordantly funny exposé of aristocratic decadence and ennui in England between the wars.
Tony Last is an aristocrat whose attachment to an ideal feudal past is so profound that he is blind to his wife Brenda's boredom with the stately rhythms of country life. While he earnestly plays the lord of the manor in his ghastly Victorian Gothic pile, she sets herself up in a London flat and pursues an affair with the social-climbing idler John Beaver. In the first half of the novel Waugh fearlessly anatomizes the lifestyles of the rich and shameless. Everyone moves through an endless cycle of parties and country-house weekends, being scrupulously polite in public and utterly horrid in private. Sex is something one does to relieve the boredom, and Brenda's affair provides a welcome subject for conversation:
It had been an autumn of very sparse and meagre romance; only the most obvious people had parted or come together, and Brenda was filling a want long felt by those whose simple, vicarious pleasure it was to discuss the subject in bed over the telephone.Tony's indifference and Brenda's selfishness give their relationship a sort of equilibrium until tragedy forces them to face facts. The collapse of their relationship accelerates, and in the famous final section of the book Tony seeks solace in a foolhardy search for El Dorado, throwing himself on the mercy of a jungle only slightly more savage than the one he leaves behind in England. For all its biting wit, A Handful of Dust paints a bleak picture of the English upper classes, reaching beyond satire toward a very modern sense of despair. In Waugh's world, culture, breeding, and the trappings of civilization only provide more subtle means of destruction. --Simon Leake
8 1-hour cassettes
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherEveryman's Library
- Publication date2002
- ISBN 10 0375414207
- ISBN 13 9780375414206
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages264
- Rating
Buy New
Learn more about this copy
US$ 34.95
Shipping:
US$ 3.95
Within U.S.A.
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Stock Image
A Handful of Dust (Everyman's Library)
Published by
Everyman's Library
(2002)
ISBN 10: 0375414207
ISBN 13: 9780375414206
Used
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: Good. SHIPS FROM USA. Used books have different signs of use and do not include supplemental materials such as CDs, Dvds, Access Codes, charts or any other extra material. All used books might have various degrees of writing, highliting and wear and tear and possibly be an ex-library with the usual stickers and stamps. Dust Jackets are not guaranteed and when still present, they will have various degrees of tear and damage. All images are Stock Photos, not of the actual item. book. Seller Inventory # 0375414207-R
Buy Used
US$ 14.70
Convert currency
Stock Image
A Handful of Dust
Published by
Everyman's Library
(2002)
ISBN 10: 0375414207
ISBN 13: 9780375414206
Used
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition; no remainder marks. Dustjacket does have some shelfwear. Inside pages are clean. ; Everyman's Library; 5.25 X 1 X 8.25 inches; 264 pages. Seller Inventory # 08GW23-447-192u
Buy Used
US$ 22.95
Convert currency
Stock Image
A Handful of Dust (Everyman's Library)
Published by
Everyman's Library
(2002)
ISBN 10: 0375414207
ISBN 13: 9780375414206
Used
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: Fine. Book is in Used-LikeNew condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear. 0.88. Seller Inventory # 0375414207-2-2
Buy Used
US$ 36.75
Convert currency
Stock Image
A Handful of Dust (Everyman's Library)
Published by
Everyman's Library
(2002)
ISBN 10: 0375414207
ISBN 13: 9780375414206
Used
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: Fair. Buy with confidence! Book is in acceptable condition with wear to the pages, binding, and some marks within 0.88. Seller Inventory # bk0375414207xvz189zvxacp
Buy Used
US$ 38.87
Convert currency
Stock Image
A Handful of Dust (Everyman's Library)
Published by
Everyman's Library
(2002)
ISBN 10: 0375414207
ISBN 13: 9780375414206
New
Hardcover
Quantity: 10
Seller:
Rating
Book Description hardcover. Condition: New. Brand New Book. Seller Inventory # 62926
Buy New
US$ 34.95
Convert currency
Stock Image
A Handful of Dust (Everyman's Library) Waugh, Evelyn and Boyd, William
Published by
Everyman's Library
(2002)
ISBN 10: 0375414207
ISBN 13: 9780375414206
Used
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description hardcover. Condition: Very Good. clean well kept hardcover copy with dust jacket, price tag unclipped, no markings, stickers or stains. fast shipping with tracking number. Seller Inventory # BEBE-091-03-09-2021
Buy Used
US$ 35.00
Convert currency
Stock Image
A Handful of Dust (Everyman's Library)
Published by
Everyman's Library
(2002)
ISBN 10: 0375414207
ISBN 13: 9780375414206
Used
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Good. 0. (Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)Evelyn Waughs 1934 novel is a bitingly funny vision of aristocratic decadence in England between the wars. It tells the story of Tony Last, who, to the irritation of his wife, is inordinately obsessed with his Victorian Gothic country house and life. When Lady Brenda Last embarks on an affair with the worthless John Beaver out of boredom with her husband, she sets in motion a sequence of tragicomic disasters that reveal Waugh at his most scathing.The action is set in the brittle social world recognizable from Decline and Fall and Vile Bodies, darkened and deepened by Waughs own experience of sexual betrayal. As Tony is driven by the urbane savagery of this world to seek solace in the wilds of the Brazilian jungle, A Handful of Dust demonstrates the incomparably brilliant and wicked wit of one of the twentieth centurys most accomplished novelists. Seller Inventory # SONG0375414207
Buy Used
US$ 40.10
Convert currency
Stock Image
A Handful of Dust (Everyman's Library)
Published by
Everyman's Library
(2002)
ISBN 10: 0375414207
ISBN 13: 9780375414206
Used
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. hardcover with dust jacket, tight, pages clear and bright, shelf and edge wear, corners bumped, packaged in cardboard box for shipment, tracking on U.S. orders. Seller Inventory # 92172
Buy Used
US$ 37.25
Convert currency
Stock Image
A Handful of Dust (Everyman's Library)
Published by
Everyman's Library
(2002)
ISBN 10: 0375414207
ISBN 13: 9780375414206
Used
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: Very Good. Book is in Used-VeryGood condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain very limited notes and highlighting. 0.88. Seller Inventory # 0375414207-2-3
Buy Used
US$ 55.23
Convert currency
Stock Image
A Handful of Dust (Everyman's Library)
Published by
Everyman's Library
(2002)
ISBN 10: 0375414207
ISBN 13: 9780375414206
New
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: New. Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition 0.88. Seller Inventory # bk0375414207xvz189zvxnew
Buy New
US$ 55.24
Convert currency