Some Instructions

Knopf - A Borzoi Book, 1978. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Very Good/Good. Book is clean with a square, tight binding and bright, white pages. Book has minor wear on the edges that is difficult to see in the scans. Dust jacket also has wear to edges including small tear on top back cover. The brilliant author of Log of the S.s. The Mrs Unguentine, Travel Notes, and Gascoyne now gives us a modern patriarchal dream of marriage in the form of a Book of Instructions written by an eerily fastidious man to his wife concerning the conduct of "that which will always survive, the Marriage which is ours," detailing the way he wants to be treated, wants the household to be run, the children brought up, the way he wants them all to be. The man who speaks is an obsessive horticulturist (author of "Garlic Questions Finally An-swered"), and his "homely" book to his wife and children-full of fascinating, disquieting, and hilarious (epigrammatic) instructions and parables covers subjects ranging from his wife's comportment to the upkeep of the house and marriage, including the protocol for afternoon naps; for cleaning the windows ("the eyes of the house"); ordering food; receiving visits ("the strength of the Marriage is being tested each time you hear the screen door opening or the telephone ringing"); dealing with household odors, with the yard, with the roof ("think of the roof as the lid of the Mar-riage"), with the goats; maintaining the public face of their heavenly marital harmony. Secondly, he instructs his son (budding little patriarch) on the conduct of his childhood, on allowances, neatness, toys ("the goal of childhood is to amass sufficient toys"), on bicycles, reading and writing, the sandpile, on practicing to build a house, "and beginning to build, in effect, your future wife herself." Next his daughter two years old- concerning the conduct of her childhood, concerning germs, appliances, the laundry, red ants (she attracts them ), dolls, shopping, and baking in an invisible toy stove "invisible bread, pies, cakes, roasts" so that everyone may say, "here is a girl whose invisible foundations are solid indeed." Cast as the expression of a serenely self-assured madman, hysterical, contemptuous, and tender by turns, Some Instructions perfectly parodies the universal fantasy of the self-concerned man who regards his marriage partner as attendant and acolyte. It is wildly funny, sardonic, oddly and hauntingly moving, and resonant with the strange vision and power that are the hallmark of Stanley Craw-ford's extraordinary work. The book you see in the images is the actual book we have for sale. Why pay more? When you buy this book from us, you are helping to support a small brick and mortar family owned store. We have been curating our collection for three generations and currently have over 250,000 volumes in stock. Please feel free to call for more stock.