Under The Net by MURDOCH, Iris - 1954

London: Chatto and Windus, 1954. First U.K. Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/Good. 286 p. 21 cm. Pink cloth in mylar-covered pictorial dustjacket designed by Victor Ross. Jacket has a little wear and a bit of soiling but is not badly chipped and does not have a sunned spine. A little foxing to text block edges.

The author's first novel tells the story of a struggling young writer, Jake Donahue, who attempts to improve his financial and intellectual life by following the instructions of an abstruse philosopher. After a noctural pub crawl, the kidnapping of a dog, a dazed wander through Paris, and an attempt to break the philosopher out of hospital, Donahue realizes he has enough material to make it as a writer. Dedicated to the French author, Raymond Queneau, whose wit and cynical humour was similar to Murdoch's. Often considered to be of the greatest of English-language novels, Under The Net has much to say about work, love, wealth, and fame - if the reader can stop laughing long enough to learn.