About the Book:

HARD TO FIND BOOK, only a very limited number of copies are still available.

Here, together in one volume, are Joe Orton's earliest and last published works.

Head to Toe is a novel about the saga of Gombold, who strays onto the head of a creature some hundred miles high and begins making his way through the giant's nether regions and on toward his toes. En route, he falls into the clutches of a dominating and gender-bending policewoman; finds himself in an assassination squad whose target is the prime minister; and finally enlists in an apocalyptic war between the Left and Right Buttocks.

Up Against It is an unproduced screenplay commissioned by the Beatles in 1967, at the height of their fame. As Joe Orton described it, "The boys have been caught in flagrante, become involved in dubious political activity, dressed as women, committed murder, been put in prison, and committed adultery. "

The two works, which mirror each other in many ways, combine elements of satire, eroticism, and nightmare with Orton's characteristic glee.

About the Author:

Joe Orton (1933-1967) was one of Britain's most celebrated writers noted for his black comedies, which combine genteel dialogue with violent and shocking action. He collaborated artistically with Kenneth Halliwell for ten years before achieving a breakthrough in his solo work with the staging of Entertaining Mr. Sloane and the radio broadcast of The Ruffian on the Stair in 1964. At the height of his fame in 1967, he was due to meet with a producer about a Beatles film for which he had written a screenplay when he was found murdered — the jealous Halliwell had beaten him to death before taking his own life.