A dystopian and picaresque satire set in unnamed capital city of an unnamed South American country, The Infernal Desire Machines of Dr Hoffman, Angela Carter’s sixth novel, is presented as a recollection by its protagonist Desiderio and the time he sets out on a quest to assassinate the mysterious Doctor Hoffman, whose reality-distorting machines were interfering with people’s dreams and altering their perceptions.

Carter wrote the novel in Japan, where she lived for some years, and Japanese society had a significant influence on the novel and signaled a shift for Carter, towards science fiction and a more sinister and unsettling tone. Carter’s surrealist influences shine in this work. Acclaimed science fiction writer and critic Jeff VanderMeer said of The Infernal Desire Machines that it was "the finest surrealist novel of the past 30 years. It perfectly captures the ideas and ideals of surrealist beauty".

In 2017, Vulture ranked it in their list of 100 Great Works of Dystopian Fiction. Our copy is in beautiful and bright condition.

London: Rupert Hart-Davis: Granada Publishing, 1972. First edition. Hardback, in dust jacket. 20.5 x 13.5 x 3.5. 285 pages. Octavo. Dark orange boards, slight spotting to top fore edge. Brilliantly illustrated jacket. A near fine copy in near fine dust jacket.