The Ginger Man. by DONLEAVY, J. P - 1958

Paris: The Olympia Press, 1958. Second Olympia Press edition, of Donleavy's first novel, third overall, a rollicking comedy following the misadventures of Sebastian Dangerfield set in post-war Dublin. Upon publication in Paris of the first edition in 1955 The Ginger Man was banned in Ireland and the US. To meet British censorship standards Donleavy expurgated large sections of the text, and the novel was consequently published by Neville Spearman in London in 1956. This edition reprints the text of the "Paris" edition.
Like many works coming out of The Olympia Press at this time, including Nabokov's Lolita which was published in the same year, The Ginger Man almost immediately faced challenges of censorship and accusations of obscenity. The Ginger Man was issued in The Olympia Press's Traveller's Companion Series, which included works widely considered pornographic. Donleavy went to considerable effort to rescue the novel from association with these, well-documented in his autobiography The History of the Ginger Man. Octavo. Original olive boards, printed paper labels to spine and front board, red endpapers. With dust jacket. Board edges very slightly faded, internally fine; an excellent copy in bright jacket with just a few nicks to extremities.