{"product_id":"hurry-on-down-valancourt-20th-century-classics-book-john-wain-9781948405713","title":"Hurry on Down (Valancourt 20th Century Classics)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe hero of John Wain's classic novel is Charles Lumley, a young man fresh out of university and wondering what to do with the rest of his life. Feeling as though he has been born in captivity--the captivity of his bourgeois upbringing--Charles decides to escape by setting off on a picaresque and hilarious tour of 1950s England. He undergoes a string of comic misadventures as he works various jobs--from window cleaner to nightclub bouncer to drug trafficker--all the while trying to find his place in the world and win the love of the beautiful Veronica Roderick.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of the great English men of letters of the 20th century, John Wain (1925-1994) was a prolific novelist, poet, biographer, and critic whose many accolades included the Somerset Maugham Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the Whitbread Award.\u003cem\u003e Hurry on Down\u003c\/em\u003e (1953), his first novel and surely one of the funniest English novels ever written, ushered in a new type of fiction and paved the way for many later classics, including Kingsley Amis's \u003cem\u003eLucky Jim\u003c\/em\u003e (1954) and John Braine's \u003cem\u003eRoom at the Top\u003c\/em\u003e (1957). This new edition includes an introduction by John Andrew Fredrick.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'A great fund of comic invention'--\u003cem\u003eThe Times Literary Supplement\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Written with great spirit . . . very funny'--\u003cem\u003eThe Listener\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50395645608209,"sku":"CIN1948405717G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51058283413777,"sku":"NIN9781948405713","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52691830472977,"sku":"NLS9781948405713","price":16.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53117247750417,"sku":"GOR014736338","price":11.9,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1948405717.jpg?v=1750804980","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/products\/hurry-on-down-valancourt-20th-century-classics-book-john-wain-9781948405713","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}