THE MYSTIC MASSEUR by Naipaul, V.S - 1959

New York: The Vanguard Press, 1959. xii, + 215pp. Book clean and square. Spine firm, lightly bumped on head and heel. Bright title on spine and line-illustration on undamaged original black cloth boards. A former owner's signature on ffep., plus a gift inscription to that owner on half-title page, else textblock unmarked. Art-illustrated (R.F. Micklewright, 1923-2013), loose-plastic protected dustjacket slightly edgeworn and colour-faded on spine. Debut fiction (first published by Andre Deutsch, London, 1957) by (Sir) V.S.Naipaul (1932-2018) who was later to win numerous prestigious literary awards including the Nobel Prize and the Booker Prize. In this 1st American Edition, V.S. Naipaul (born in Trinidad to Indian parents) sets the story in colonial Trinidad, and features Ganeash Rasumair, an unappreciated teacher who becomes a masseur, and from a masseur who is lacking talent he blossoms into a mystic one . . . Contents include: Prelims., Introduction (Lord David Cecil), 10 chapters, Epilogue. Book weight approx. 410g. . First U.S. Edition. Hardcover and Dustjacket. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.