The Worm and the Ring

This is a rare or used book from the Berkelouw Rare Books Department.

London: Heinemann 1961. 8vo. Orig. maroon cloth. Gilt. (v 274pp.). Unclipped dustjacket with illustration by John Rowland. First edition. A perfect copy. NOTE: Set in the Banbury Grammar School the dreary provincial school Anthony Burgess taught at in the early 1950s. The book is structured after Wagner's opera Ring Cycle. The plot follows a teacher in an unhappy marriage and a young girl's stolen diary which contains depictions of erotic fantasies about the headmaster of the school. The book was pulled from the market shortly after its publication because of a libel lawsuit making the first edition copies very rare.