Strictly Private

[lightly shelfworn, slight deterioration to binding at spine ends, front endpaper rather carelessly razored out; the jacket is edgeworn, with minor paper loss at the spine ends]. "This delightfully clever tale recounts the sudden disappearances of Miss Muffet, a golden-haired child whom everybody wants; some because they love her, some because they hate her, and some because they don't want others to have her. Altogether, Miss Muffet becomes a bone of bitter contention and proceeds to get kidnapped every time a would-be guardian is out of sight." A would-be "madcap" novel that's seriously compromised by the author's clunky prose style, a bevy of uninteresting characters with murky motivations, and a central figure (the aforementioned Miss Muffet) whose sole distinguishing characteristic is a vocabulary of baby-talk that might want to make you claw your eyes out. ("I want to tiss oo 'tause oo're so dood to me.") The dust jacket copy references the author's "growing reputation for charming, lively and amusing stories," and she did indeed crank about half a dozen novels between 1929 and 1935, after which she appears to have retired from the literary scene. Anyway, the usual disclaimer: your mileage may differ (mine certainly did). (Nice jacket, though, by the great Arthur Hawkins Jr.)

Product Info

Publisher: A.L. Burt Company

Year: (c.1931)

Type: Used

Binding: Hardcover

Seller Info

ReadInk

Address: 2261 West 21st St. Los Angeles, California

Website: https://www.readinkbooks.com

Country: United States