Good Ship Venus

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About this product

The story of Maurice Girodias and the Olympia Press is one of the most bizarre and flamboyant in publishing history. At a time when dirty books (and great ones) were being banned in Britain and America, Girodias launched on a career as an English language publisher in 1950s Paris. A man of great inventive energy, literary taste and charm, Girodias created an eclectic list which combined works of real literary distinction, like Lolita , The Ginger Man and Naked Lunch with outright pornography. During his heyday Girodias defied the censors and published some of the bell-wether titles of the twentieth century. John de St Jorre tells the story with fitting panache.

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