Hardcover novel featuring an old American living in Brazil, writing his memoirs. He had been an English teacher at the naval academy, is married to a woman much younger, and has a dearly loved young son. He sits in an oceanside Niteroi mountain garden, and carries a Walther P-88, and is addicted to coffee. Excellent prose; recalling life as World War II ace, international investment banker, a multimillionaire, always in love, thief, murderer, protector of the innocent. His adolescence was spent in a Switzerland insane asylum. Themes: adventure, satire, transcendence, high comedy, Hudson Valley and New York City memories. Light shelf soiling.

Synopsis

An old American who lives in Brazil is writing his memoirs. An English teacher at the naval academy, he is married to a woman young enough to be his daughter and has a little son whom he loves. He sits in a mountain garden in Niterói, overlooking the ocean. As he reminisces and writes, placing the pages carefully in his antproof case, we learn that he was a World War II ace who was shot down twice, an investment banker who met with popes and presidents, and a man who was never not in love. He was the thief of the century, a murderer, and a protector of the innocent. And all his life he waged a valiant, losing, one-man battle against the world’s most insidious enslaver: coffee. Mark Helprin combines adventure, satire, flights of transcendence, and high comedy in this "memoir" of a man whose life reads like the song of the twentieth century.

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Details

Bookseller: Hedgehog's Whimsey Books (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: HW11antproofHelprin
Title: Memoir from Antproof Case
Author: Mark Helprin
Illustrator: Lori J McThomas, Designed by; Vaughn Andrews, Jacket design by.
Format/Binding: Hardcover in brown cloth over boards. Gold spine titles.
Book Condition: Used - Near Fine
Jacket Condition: Near Fine
Quantity Available: 1
Edition: 1st edition; 1st printing "A"..
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0151000972
ISBN 13: 9780151000975
Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company.
Place of Publication: New York.
Date Published: 1995
Pages: 514
Size: 24 cm.
Keywords: Brazilians; Great Divide; Transgressions; 1914; Glacis at Sao Conrado; Author, "A Soldier of the Great War";
Bookseller catalogs: Fiction;

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Hedgehog's Whimsey Books

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Hedgehog's Whimsey Books

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Newport, New Hampshire

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About Hedgehog's Whimsey Books

Hedgehog's Whimsey Books was born in a random moment when I decided to become a used books seller. Beginning in 2001, I apprenticed myself with a longtime pro in the next town, hoping to learn her secrets. She encouraged my free help but was wary of sharing all those secrets. Nonetheless, she turned me loose when she felt I would not embarrass her; she was impressed, finding I actually knew something about books and authors and styles. I am still learning, and I am having a good time with the random avalanches of books to be recycled into good homes, one by one. Inventory has mounted: my mother downsized her 7,000-plus library, and we (my Geezer and I) went to library book sales, yard emporiums on weekends, estate dispersals, and added the books my kids left behind, wanting to stock their own shelves anew. Some folks simply tooled down our dirt road and left boxes on our porch. Myself? Well, I am also a photographer, journalist, curious stuff collector, avid reader, writer, editor, small-time publisher, and online pontificator. At Hedgehog Enterprises, I do "Words & Pictures by & for Folks with Prickly Backs, Soft Bellies, & Small Brains", established in 1991. Since I have the smallest brain (by unpopular vote), I am the Head Hedgehog. Do I specialize in particular genres? I thought I did, but my barn has lots of Geezer-built shelves, and we have many interests, so topics vary, as do book conditions and editions. I try to describe such, and sometimes have too much fun as I poke along. There is no charge for the therapy of browsing, folks, so find my sites and stay awhile. If a purchase results, know that the tax collector in Newport, New Hampshire, may get a pleasant surprise. Or, I may buy a few more apple cider donuts or sweet potatoes. No pressure. Hedgehogs do have yearnings. If you should visit by chance or by appointment, enjoy our old New Hampshire farmhouse location alongside the Sugar River and its companion recreation Rail Trail, nearby two historic railroad covered bridges just off Chandlers Mill Road. Feel welcome. -- Lucy G Wells, proprietor.

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