In the summer of 1931, a cruise ship sails from Mexico on its way to Bremerhaven, Germany. Among its many diverse passengers are a Spanish noblewoman, a drunken German lawyer, an American divorcee, a pair of Mexican Catholic priests, a number of Germans returning to their homeland from Mexico, and a corrupt, avaricious company of Spanish singers and dancers who scheme to defraud the other passengers of their money. In the mingling and meeting of these varied personalities on board the ship of fools, a drama of good and evil ...
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In the summer of 1931, a cruise ship sails from Mexico on its way to Bremerhaven, Germany. Among its many diverse passengers are a Spanish noblewoman, a drunken German lawyer, an American divorcee, a pair of Mexican Catholic priests, a number of Germans returning to their homeland from Mexico, and a corrupt, avaricious company of Spanish singers and dancers who scheme to defraud the other passengers of their money. In the mingling and meeting of these varied personalities on board the ship of fools, a drama of good and evil takes place from which no one will emerge unchanged. Rich in incident, passion, and treachery, the novel's themes of nationalism, cultural and ethnic pride, and basic human frailty are as relevant today as they were when the novel first appeared in 1945.
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**STOCK PHOTOS AND CATALOG INFO MAY VARY FROM ACTUAL BOOK, PLEASE REFER TO SELLER PHOTOS AND ITEM DESCRIPTION FOR MOST ACCURATE INFORMATION. THE SELLER PHOTO SHOWS THE EXACT COPY YOU WILL RECEIVE** This is a used book in GOOD condition. May have minor defects such as wearing to outside cover, a name written on inside cover, or a few notations throughout. Hardcover edition. Includes original dust jacket.
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Very Good. Size: 8x5x1; Bound in publisher's yellow cloth. Hardcover. No dust jacket. Good binding and cover. Shelf wear. Clean, unmarked pages. Related ephemera included.
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Good. Good condition. Good dust jacket. Book Club Edition. Clear wrap added. (psychological fiction, voyages and travels) A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
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Fair. There is a signature or handwriting on the inside front cover. The pages are sun faded and slightly yellowing There is a lot of wear and tear on the cover There are stains or residue on the cover The dust jacket is in rough shape, shows significant wear. The dust jacket has minor damage or small tear. This is a hardcover copy Fast Shipping-Each order powers our free bookstore in Chicago and sending books to Africa!
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Fair. Size: 8x5x1; 1ST EDITION 2ND PRINTING. EX-LIBRARY COPY WITH DJ TAPED TO BOARDS ETC. SOLID AND RARW BOOK, INCLUDES A SECOND DJ. This Book is in Acceptable condition. Please note Acceptable is the lowest condition grade possible. All items ship within 24 hours. Packaging is 100% Recyclable. Most items purchased from Charitable organizations. A portion of each sale is also donated to a monthly charity, check your package for this months charity. Reuse-Recycle-Rebook!
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Very Good+ with no dust jacket. 0436378000. We consider each and every book we sell to be a treasure. That's why we provide accurate individualized condition descriptions; ship in sturdy protective packaging; and offer excellent customer service.; Yellow cloth cover is slightly sunned on spine with a small stain on the back bottom corner of the tailcap and a couple small stains on back cover but bright, and in very good condition. Boards and spine are straight. Binding is tight. Brief pencil underlining and notes on about 5 pages otherwise pages are clean and very good. Newspaper clippings of the author dated 1969 and announcing her death in 1980 laid-in.
SHIP OF FOOLS tells the story of a group of German nationals on a boat from Veracruz to Germany. Jews by the boatload were attempting to escape from an atrocious and repressive regime. What the passengers did not realize is that the shipboard lifestyle reflected a macrocosm of pain that is to be experienced in the rest of the world. We meet dozens of characters, some more skillfully developed than others, including a young American couple through whose eyes we get to see the whole tragedy unfolding. The novel is not plot driven but an observed portrait. Porter focuses on the telling of details of each personality and the result is a sometimes funny, often touching, and ultimately stinging examination of the insularity, hypocrisies, and pretensions of shipboard passengers en route from Mexico to Germany on the eve of World War II. Porter's cast of characters are primarily German, but a handful of Spanish, Mexican, Swiss, and American characters giving the novel an international perspective. The characters tend to adopt reactionary postures toward and make assumptions about their fellow travelers based on both class and nationality; consequently, they tend to regard each other in a stereotypical light but even as they fail to understand the truths behind the stereotypes, Porter highlights their lack of comprehension in a frequently comic but extremely disconcerting manner, demonstrating that her characters are at sea in more ways than one. Because of certain symbolism this is not a novel to read quickly or casually. It requires time to develop clearly in the mind, so readers are advised to approach it with ample time in which to enjoy this superior work.