FIRST OF THE PATRICK MELROSE NOVELS: NEVER MIND, SIGNED BY ST. AUBYN

ST. AUBYN, Edward. Never Mind. London: Heinemann, (1992). Octavo, original orange cloth, original dust jacket. $1200.

First edition of the first novel in St. Aubyn's renowned five-book series of Patrick Melrose novels, signed by St. Aubyn on the title page.

"Edward St. Aubyn's five Patrick Melrose novels—published beginning in 1992 and collected, to lavish praise, in 2012—owe their popularity to the way they cross genres to satisfy two distinct cravings. St. Aubyn does a reasonably good rendition of a classic style of British social satire, withering and mock-grotesque, for those who pine for the early works of Evelyn Waugh and Kingsley Amis… But he puts it in service of a more contemporary form, the recovery story, tracing Patrick's life from horrific abuse as a child to unbridled addiction… to tenuously sober, emotionally fragile adulthood. Neither side of the equation would necessarily be notable on its own, but the combination clicks" (New York Times, May 10, 2018). The "Patrick Melrose" novels were adapted into a Showtime series, titled Patrick Melrose, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the title character.

Faint foxing to preliminaries, light toning to page edges, cloth fine; dust jacket with very light toning to spine. A near-fine copy, scarce signed.