CAVE, Nick And the Ass saw the Angel. London: HarperCollins.[1990]
8vo. Publisher's red paper covers with black lettering; [xii], 248, [iv]; minimal creasing and light blue ink stain to spine end with minor ink stain to bottom of front cover; internally fine; near fine copy.
Uncorrected proof of Nick Cave's first novel
And the Ass saw the Angel is Nick Cave's debut novel. Known as the front man of the legendary rock group, The Birthday Party, he is also notorious for his work with the band The Bad Seeds and a collection of his lyrics were published in 1988. He also famously appeared in the iconic Wim Wendes movie, Wings of Desire and, subsequent to this very first novel, has gone on to collaborate on many writing projects.
The title is inspired by a biblical quotation from the Book of Numbers, Chapter 22, Verses 23-31: "And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, …", which appears before the prologue.
And the Ass saw the Angel is a derivative of an unfilmed film script that Cave extended into the novel. On the intense experience of the books composition in West Berlin, and the plight of the novel's protagonist, Cave remarked in his essay The Flesh made Word, "For me, Euchrid is Jesus struck dumb, he is the blocked artist, he is internalized imagination become madness".
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