And the Ass Saw the Angel

infobox Book |
name = And the Ass Saw the Angel
title_orig =
translator =


author = Nick Cave
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Philosophical novel, Gothic novel
publisher = Black Spring Press,
Harper Collins
release_date = 1989
media_type = Print (hardback & paperback)
pages = 320 pp
isbn = ISBN 1-880985-72-1
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"And the Ass Saw the Angel" is the first and only novel by the musician and singer Nick Cave, originally published in 1989 by Black Spring Press in the United Kingdom and Harper Collins in the United States. It was republished in 2003 by 2.13.61 (ISBN 1-880985-72-1). A luxury Collector's edition was released, summer 2007, by Black Spring Press.

With its Southern Gothic setting, critics have compared it favorably with novels by American authors William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor. [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1716123,00.html Outback outlaws | | Guardian Unlimited Arts ] ] [ [http://dogmatika.com/dm/books_more.php?id=1410_0_3_0_M Dogmatika :: Reviews ] ]

Plot

"And the Ass Saw the Angel" tells the story of Euchrid Eucrow, a mute born to an abusive drunken mother and a father obsessed with cruel traps and animal torture. His father's dangerous traps, greasy and vile, just might maim or kill an unwary person. The ultimate outcast, scorned even among outsiders, in a valley of fanatically religious Ukulites, Euchrid bears his mother's beatings, his father's inturned indifference, and the hatred and loathing of an entire town. Euchrid's increasingly fractured mind teems with words and horrible angelic visions, narrated by his silent Southern drawl. To wit, Cave phonetically renders the boy-narrator's "I" as "Ah." Raised to inevitable madness in this world of inbreeding, moonshine, and fanaticism, Euchrid will exact his terrible vengeance on the people who have made his life one of nearly unrelenting pain.

Major themes

The lyrics of some of the songs from the first few albums of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds ("From Her to Eternity", "The Firstborn Is Dead" and "Your Funeral... My Trial"), are extensions of the ideas represented in the novel. The title comes from the Bible, the Book of Numbers 22:23, where Balaam does not see the angel of the Lord but his mule does.

Awards and nominations

* 1990 "Time Out" Magazine: Book Of The Year

Notes

External links

* [http://www.blackspringpress.co.uk Black Spring Press] : Publishers of the English edition and the Collector's edition.