On Pegasus He Rode

New York: Carrick & Evans. Very Good+ in Very Good dj. (c.1938). First Edition. Hardcover. (price-clipped) [nice copy, mild shelfwear, very light water-spotting on top edge (interior not affected); jacket a bit worn at corners, some soiling/spotting on spine]. "In this unusual story of a man's struggle against his life-long desire to escape reality, [the author] has written a brilliant novel which adds to the stature of his already distinguished reputation as a writer of uncommon versatility. Major Kenneth Creswell--he was soon to drop the ' Major'--differed from most of us only in degree. His War record was brilliant but so was that of many others; he had great charm of manner, but that again was not what made him, in a sense, a man apart. The difference lay in the fact that his dissatisfaction with himself was more profound, his need to escape more urgent. He was, perhaps, more of an idealist than most men, though society, had it stumbled upon his secret, might have said otherwise. The outbreak of the War saved him from what might have been an ugly scandal; and while he was in France his wife died."And so on, with additional oblique references to his "retreat down strange paths of release" and "his weakness," plus the assertion that "the medical facts of K.C.'s case are authentic." So I guess this is a " psychological torment" novel. .