Reluctant Prophet

New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Very Good+ in Very Good- dj. 1939. First American Edition. Hardcover. [good solid copy with minimal wear, would grade a little higher but for some discoloration to the cloth along both joints; the jacket is a little edgeworn, with a couple of tiny surface-peel spots on the front panel, and a small irregular hole near the right side of the front panel]. A re-telling of the Biblical story of Jonah (and, eventually, a "sea monster" rather than a whale per se), "an amusing and curiously disconcerting novel," told in such a fashion that "the religious press of the author's native Denmark has not been able to make up its mind whether the book is a satire or a naive confession of faith." Laid in is a two-page pre-publication press release, dated January 17, 1939, entitled "Memorandum from Mr. Knopf to Friends of Borzoi Books," the text of which is very similar to that of the jacket blurb. The extremely brief Wikipedia article on this author states (without citing a source) that he was "excluded" (by which I assume is meant expelled) from the Danish Writers' Association in 1946; maybe the country's "religious press" finally made up their mind, and didn't like what they'd figured out. .