Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper to the prominent Irish critic D.E.S. [Desmond Ernest Stewart] ‘Des’ Maxwell: “for Des, with good wishes from Tom. Toronto 1974”, with Maxwell’s signature under the inner front panel of the jacket. Maxwell’s most notable work is ‘A Critical History of Modern Irish Drama, 1891-1980’, which includes a critical study of the dramatic work of Thomas Kilroy.
The author’s first novel, winner of The Guardian Fiction Prize and shortlisted for The Booker Prize. Some years later, Kilroy met Saul Bellow, who was one of the judges on the 1971 panel and Bellow declared that Kilroy’s novel should have won. A near fine copy in dust jacket, faintly browned and rubbed on the spine.