Balthazar

Balthazar (1958) by Lawrence Durrell – Sold by Crappy Old Books

Step back into the sultry haze of 1930s Alexandria with Balthazar, the second volume of Lawrence Durrell’s acclaimed Alexandria Quartet. Less a sequel than a literary trapdoor, this book rips up everything you thought you understood from Justine and offers a moody, metafictional remix — same events, different eyes, more secrets.

Through the sardonic intellect of Balthazar, a doctor steeped in cabalistic lore and dubious wisdom, Durrell peels away the layers of memory, lust, and betrayal with unnerving precision. This is not a novel that comforts — it tangles. It dazzles. It smirks. And if you’re reading it from a tatty, yellowing paperback that smells faintly of pipe smoke and regret, all the better.

Condition: Cracked spine, foxed edges, and marginalia that suggest the previous owner may have been in love—or losing their mind.

Crappy Old Books: Because no one ever fell in love with a pristine copy.

I rinforced the cover with a paper fold and some glue.

First edition.

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