The Moon's A Balloon - Inscribed Copy Niven, David England And The English,Film,Performing Arts & Media

8vo. Pp. [10], 11-380 (vide infra). With a good section of black-and-white photos. Index. Bound in blue cloth with author's signature in blind on front board; gilt lettering on spine. Light wear to cloth; spine a bit creased. In the dust jacket that shows some edge-wear, spine slightly darkened. Price of $7.95 intact on the front flap. Inscribed twice by David Niven: on the front panel of the dust jacket and on the half-title. An anomalous copy featuring a publisher's printing flaw: pagination jumps from page 128 to 225, reflecting a break in narrative, too. If nearly 100 pages are missing, how could the cloth binding fit the unexpected reduced thickness of the text block?In his half-title inscription, Niven alludes to the manufacturing error: "Where have all those missing pages got to? All that HARD work!! [signed] David Niven". On the dust jacket, Niven's inscription, also in red ink, reads, "For Jean with love and many thanks [signed] David". The gist of the inscriptions suggest "Jean" was involved in the writing or editing of the book.Niven's anecdote-laden recollections of growing up in London; life at Sandhurst and in the military; eventual gravitation to a career in the movies that largely sidestepped development in theater; a return to uniform in WWII, filled with exploits, natch. A name-dropper? Niven's invitations to weekends at this country house or two weeks at that Bermuda estate contain more royalty than Debrett's Peerage.Contains the infamous account of contracting frostbite below-the-belt while filming a "Pink Panther" movie in the Alps; purportedly, the apres-ski dunking of his "friend" in a snifter of brandy at the hotel bar was a successful cure. Dust jacket is now housed in a removable, clear archival sleeve.