Rare Books

"The Brightfount Diaries " 1955 ALDISS, Brian W.

ALDISS, Brian W.

Brian Aldiss, OBE (1925-2017), was a fiction and science fiction writer, poet, playwright, critic, memoirist and artist. He was born in Norfolk in 1925. After leaving the army, Brian worked as a bookseller, providing the setting for his first book, The Brightfount Diaries (1955). His first published science fiction work was the story ‘Criminal Record’, which appeared in Science Fantasy in 1954. Faber encouraged Brian to pursue his enthusiasm for SF and published Space, Time and Nathaniel (1957). Since then he has written more than 75 books and 300 short stories, many of which are being reissued by The Friday Project.

[200] pp.

Faber and Faber Ltd

1955

8 1/8" x 5 1/2"

Illustrated by Pearl Falconer

In a small provincial city, Peter lives with his long-suffering Aunt Anne and his eccentric Uncle Leo, and works in a bookshop called Brightfount’s, which he describes as a ‘shabby outpost of literacy’. Cutting the apron strings, he moves into a bed-sit and composes these witty diaries, in which he includes amusing remarks about publishers, authors, booksellers and customers, a revelation about his dotty uncle, and his efforts to find a suitable girl.

First published as a weekly serial in The Bookseller, these fictional diaries became a sensation, prompting fanmail from across the globe and resulting in the author’s first book deal.


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