The Catalogue
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: No markings
In a startlingly cold look at the commodification of human life, a young woman arrives at the Samuel Rathbone Institute to select the perfect biological blueprint for her future child. Catling delivers a chilling and prophetic satire that explores the intersection of reproductive technology and market capitalism. His prose is sharp and detached, perfectly mirroring the dehumanizing atmosphere of the Samuel Rathbone Institute and its inhabitants. By treating human genetics as a retail experience, the novel raises uncomfortable questions about the ethics of "designer" legacies and the psychological toll of a society obsessed with curated excellence. This work remains a significant, if dark, entry in the canon of 20th-century social satire, predating modern debates on genetic engineering and the commercialization of the womb.
Author: Patrick Skene Catling
Format: Hardback
Published: 1970, The Bodley Head
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: No markings
In a startlingly cold look at the commodification of human life, a young woman arrives at the Samuel Rathbone Institute to select the perfect biological blueprint for her future child. Catling delivers a chilling and prophetic satire that explores the intersection of reproductive technology and market capitalism. His prose is sharp and detached, perfectly mirroring the dehumanizing atmosphere of the Samuel Rathbone Institute and its inhabitants. By treating human genetics as a retail experience, the novel raises uncomfortable questions about the ethics of "designer" legacies and the psychological toll of a society obsessed with curated excellence. This work remains a significant, if dark, entry in the canon of 20th-century social satire, predating modern debates on genetic engineering and the commercialization of the womb.