Agents and Patients

London: Heinemann, 1955. 1st thus. h/b. Very good, 1955 edition of the 1936 novel, unclipped d/j (in protective sleeve), red clothbound boards, gilt spine titling, text block firm, pages crisp and unmarked.. 12mo (190 x 130 / 7_"" x 5""). Unsavory artists, titled boobs, and charlatans with an affinity for FreudÑsuch are the oddballs whose antics animate the early novels of the late British master Anthony Powell. A genius of social satire delivered with a very dry wit, Powell builds his comedies on the foibles of British high society between the wars, delving into subjects as various as psychoanalysis, the film industry, publishing, and (of course) sex. More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, these slim novels reveal the early stirrings of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in PowellÕs epic A Dance to the Music of Time. In Agents and Patients, we return to London with the newly wealthy, memorably named Blore-Smith: an innocent, decent enough chap . . . and a drip. Vulnerable to the machinations of those with less money and more lust, Blore-Smith falls victim to two con artists whose ploys carry him through to the art galleries and whorehouses of Paris, Berlin, and beyond. Written from a vantage point both high and necessarily narrow, PowellÕs early novels nevertheless deal in the universal themes that would become a substantial part of his oeuvre: pride, greed, and what makes people behave as they do. Filled with eccentric characters and piercing insights, PowellÕs work is achingly hilarious, human, and true.