"The Ecstasy Of Owen Muir" 1954 LARDNER, Ring Jr.
$125
[272] pp.
LARDNER, Ring Jr.
Jonathan Cape
1954
8" x 5 3/4"
*slight sun fading to front flyleaf*
The story of what happens when an idealistic, fiercely honest young man tries to reconcile Roman Catholic dogma with the realities of America of the 1940s. Lardner (1915-2000), one of the "Hollywood Ten" found guilty of contempt of Congress after refusing to answer questions before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), began writing this novel after serving a little over nine months in Danbury Prison. It brilliantly dissects the thought control of the McCarthy era, business ethics, racial intolerance, repressive sexual attitudes, "enlightened" penology, vigilantism, and other social phenomena.