The Elephant

by Richard Rayner

London:: Jonathan Cape,, (1991). Fine in fine dust jacket.. First printing. Author's highly praised second novel, described as a "wonderfully written, vividly described, hilariously tragic and almost elegiac memorial to a childhood dominated by an unreliable father." SIGNED on the title page by the author, and uncommon thus.

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Richard Rayner is a British author who now lives in Los Angeles. He was born on December 15, 1955 in the northern city of Bradford. Rayner attended schools in Yorkshire and Wales before studying philosophy and law at the University of Cambridge. He has worked as an editor at Time Out Magazine, in London, and later on the literary magazine Granta, then based in Cambridge.

Rayner is the author of nine books. His first, Los Angeles Without A Map, was published in 1988. Part-fiction, part-travelogue, this was turned into a movie L.A. Without a Map (for which Rayner co-wrote the screenplay with director Mika Kaurismaki) starring David Tennant, Vinessa Shaw, Julie Delpy, Vincent Gallo, and, in an uncredited part, Johnny Depp.
(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up a copy of this for 50 pence in a sale. The tension between the main character and his womanising father was palpable. I still feel it is a lost work that is worthy of greater attention.