COLLECTED STORIES. INCLUDING MAY WE BORROW YOUR HUSBAND? A SENSE OF REALITY. TWENTY-ONE STORIES. THE COLLECTED EDITION. de Greene, Graham - 1972

London: The Bodley Head / William Heinemann , 1972. 562 pp, 7 3/4" H. Heinemann SBN 434305618. "The following three stories in this collection are published in book form for the the first time: The Blessing, Church Militant, Dear Dr Falkenheim." "Looking over these stories now which stretch in time from 1929 to the eve of the 1970's I am struck by an odd fact - humour enters very late and very unexpectedly. The only three stories I wrote during the war were humorous ones - there again the short story was an escape, an escape from the blitz and the nightly deaths. So perhaps the stories which make up the collection 'May We Borrow Your Husband?', all written during what should be the last decade of my life, are an escape in humour from the thought of death - this time of certain death. Writing is a form of therapy; sometime I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear which is inherent in the human situation." From the author's Introduction. A very tiny tear at the bottom edge of pages 278/8, light water mark on the top of the text block that does not migrate into the pages, three very small light water marks on the fore-edge of the text block that do not migrate into the pages, minor wrinkling at the bottom of the spine. Dust jacket is price clipped, has light browning on the spine and at the top edge, a few very small edge tears, light edge wear/wrinkling, protected in a mylar sleeve.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good -/Very Good -. Illus. by Michael Harvey, jacket design..