Scenes from Provincial Life: Including Scenes from Married Life (Penguin Decades) - Softcover

Penguin Decades bring you the novels that helped shape modern Britain. When they were published, some were bestsellers, some were considered scandalous, and others were simply misunderstood. All represent their time and helped define their generation, while today each is considered a landmark work of storytelling.

William Cooper's Scenes from Provincial Life was first published in 1950, when Joe Lunn was one of the first breed of ordinary male anti-hero protagonists to appear in English fiction. Joe's exploits and ordinariness, as he tries to avoid his mistress Myrtle's attempts to trap him into marriage, brilliantly poke fun at what were, and often remain, the taboo subjects of sex and class. Published at the beginning of the decade, William Cooper's novel ushered in books like Lucky Jim and Room at the Top in the 1950s.

This edition also contains the sequel, Scenes from Married Life.

PENGUIN DECADES

50s 60s 70s 80s

Penguin Decades bring you the novels that helped shape modern Britain. When they were published, some were bestsellers, some were considered scandalous, and others were simply misunderstood. All represent their time and helped define their generation, while today each is considered a landmark work of storytelling.

The 1950s was the decade of post-war glamour, Barbie dolls, Pop Art and the Cold War. Britain celebrated the coronation of Elizabeth II and welcomed the Angry Young Men. The teenager was invented, rayguns were the toy of the moment, and Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley changed the face of modern culture forever.

William Cooper's Scenes from Provincial Life was first published in 1950, when Joe Lunn was one of the first breed of ordinary male anti-hero protagonists to appear in English fiction. Joe's exploits and ordinariness, as he tries to avoid his mistress Myrtle's attempts to trap him into marriage, brilliantly poke fun at what at the time were the taboo subjects of sex and class. This edition also contains the sequel, Scenes from Married Life.

With a new introduction by Nick Hornby