{"product_id":"hurry-on-down-valancourt-20th-century-classics-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\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Valancourt Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50861023985938,"sku":"9781948405713","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a64a9745-9ec3-430e-861e-89288c93c50b.jpg?v=1737586902","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/hurry-on-down-valancourt-20th-century-classics-9781948405713","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}