Diva - Hardcover

Diva

hardcover. Zustand: Near Fine. N/A (illustrator). First Edition. Publication: London, Allen Lane, 1984. Formatting: 8vo, pp. [viii], 128. Condition Report: Very Good in a Good+ dust-jacket. The blue publisher's boards remain exceptionally bright with sharp corners and unoxidised gilt lettering to the spine, though there is a gentle forward lean to the text block. As is endemic to UK trade publications of this period, the paper stock is heavily and uniformly toned, though the pages themselves remain entirely unmarked, crisp, and supple. The unclipped dust-jacket (£6.95 net) features the iconic trompe l'Å"il film artwork but suffers from moderate shelf-wear, most notably a strip of historic, yellowed tape applied to a closed tear at the top edge of the front panel. There is further typical tanning to the jacket margins and spine panel, with light rubbing and minor spotting to the rear panel's extremities, but it remains a highly presentable example of a fragile wrapper. Catalogue Note: First UK Edition, First Printing. First published in France in 1979, and subsequently in the US in 1983, this 1984 Allen Lane publication marks the first British appearance of Daniel Odier's cult thriller, written under his pseudonym Delacorta. The dust-jacket cleverly utilises the poster artwork from Jean-Jacques Beineix's sensational 1981 cinà ma du look film adaptation, complete with promotional blurbs for 'The Film' on the rear panel. While later paperbacks of Odier's Alba and Gorodish series are ubiquitous, the UK hardback first editions of Diva are notoriously difficult to source on the open market, as a significant portion of the relatively low print run was absorbed directly into the British library system. Set in the neon-lit, punk-infused underground of 1980s Paris, Diva is a rollicking, stylish thriller that defies the conventions of the traditional roman policier. The narrative weaves a tangled web of obsession and extortion, following a young messenger boy deeply infatuated with an internationally acclaimed opera soprano who adamantly refuses to have her voice recorded. When he inadvertently comes into possession of two stolen cassette tapes, one a secret recording of her singing, the other exposing the corrupt chief of the Paris vice squad, he is plunged into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. Populated by a bizarre cast of characters, including a Japanese record executive, a Parisian drugs kingpin, and the inimitable, zen-like bohemian duo Gorodish and Alba,ÂDiva is a fast-paced, ingenious adventure full of double-crosses, cunning reversals, and dark humour. Artikel-Nr. 4653

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