Wonder Hero by J.B. Priestley first edition 1933

PRIESTLEY, J.B. Wonder Hero.

London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1933.
 
First edition, first printing; 8vo; pp. 321; publisher's blue cloth lettered in gilt to spine; in the striking pictorial dust-jacket designed in a bold modernist style, depicting the newly manufactured celebrity-hero of the title amid newspaper placards and looming metropolitan forms. A notably clean and sharp copy, cloth fresh and unfaded, contents crisp; jacket with a few short closed tears and a tear at head of spine, slight rubbing and marking to white portions, but unusually well preserved overall. A near fine book in a very good jacket.
 
Priestley's satirical novel traces the sudden elevation of Midland factory worker Charlie Hubble into a national celebrity after an act of industrial bravery. The book develops into a pointed critique of press sensationalism, manufactured public image, and the corrupting machinery of modern fame. Published at the height of Priestley's popularity, Wonder Hero reflects contemporary anxieties surrounding mass media and the transformation of ordinary individuals into consumable public figures.