Thou Shalt Not Uncover Thy Mother's Nakedness (Signed copy)
Signed and dedicated by George Hayim
Author
Publisher
Printing Details
First edition, first printing. Hardback in dustwrapper. 24 × 15.5cm, 232pp
Signed and dedicated by George Hayim to the ffep in a playful manner, "For Josephine Gabriel who has glorious cheekbones + allows herself to be picked up in Kensington (Better than Brixton), Bless you, George + thank you for the £15!", and with the author's address sticker to the bottom of the page.
"In Thou Shalt Not Cover Thy Mother's Nakedness, George Hayim tells the bizarre and frequently outrageous story of his life. Born in Shanghai in the early 1920s, of an Iraqi-Jewish family, George recalls the luxuries enjoyed by the wealthy families of those curiously fairy tale years, when social seasons shifted from Paris to London, from Klosters to Rome. After a wretched but mercifully short time at Harrow, with his older brother Dick, he suffered the vagaries of private tuition before going to Cambridge and subsequently joining the Navy. His homosexuality, though unacceptable to his family and some contemporaries, kindled a passionate and eccentric way of life in which he was to meet some extraordinary and often dangerous characters. George's turbulent relationship with his mother was intensified by his father's emotional waywardness. Indeed, there was little love lost between father and son and their lives were spent in perpetual discord, which was to end, not in reconciliation but with the old man's death.
With a frankness that both shocks and entertains, the author recounts his erotic history not unlike an eighteenth century rake. The story of how Genet gave George the nickname 'Posso' could have come from the pages of Querelle de Brest itself. The author's most passionate affair prompted him to write a novel which, despite being lost in manuscript, was rewritten and published to great acclaim. 'Obsession' was described by Gore Vidal as 'a unique work, a story of sexual obsession that is marvellously funny'. In his own turn, George has now been immortalized in the novels of Andrew Harvey, the distinguished poet and travel writer. He is the original for the erotic and diva-like Adolphe, whose genius presides over 'Burning Houses' and ' The Web'.
George's naughty life conjures up a world of stolen pleasures, bitter-sweet Mediterranean nights, hectic urban adventures and, above all, a world in which 'impossible friendships' flourished with an intensity which shames our own prosaic times."
Condition
A good copy. The dustwrapper has light edgewear but has not been price-clipped and is now within a protective sleeve. The book is tanned to the page edges and margins, with some light blotchy tanning to the endpapers but remains in strong readable condition.
ISBN
9780704326903
Price
£60.00
