Jane Bowles: Collected Writings (LOA #288): Two Serious Ladies

Jane Bowles: Collected Writings (LOA #288): Two Serious Ladies / In the Summer House / stories & other writings / letters

For her centenary (February 22, 2017), the most complete edition everÂ published of the brilliant modernist writings and evocative letters of an LGBT pioneer.

Though Jane Bowles published only one novel, one play, and a handful ofÂ stories, her genius for spare prose and vivid dialogue had an outsized influence onÂ her contemporaries. Tennessee Williams called her "the most important writer ofÂ prose fiction in modern American letters"; for John Ashbery she was "one of theÂ finest modern writers of fiction in any language." Now, on the occasion of herÂ centenary, Library of America presents the most complete edition ever publishedÂ of Bowles's incomparable fiction, along with an extensive selection of her frank,Â vivid, and funny letters. Two Serious Ladies (1943), based partly on herÂ honeymoon in Mexico with her husband, the writer and composer Paul Bowles,Â follows two bourgeois American women in Panama as they jettison sexual andÂ cultural norms in search of happiness: Christina Goering, a wealthy spinster whoÂ becomes a high-class prostitute; and newlywed Frieda Copperfield, who finds loveÂ and comfort in the arms of a young Panamanian girl. In The Summer House (1954),Â a play about two mothers, one selfish and ruthless, despising her dreamyÂ daughter, the other gentle, dominated by her strong-minded daughter, wasÂ performed on Broadway in 1953 and reflects Bowles's complicated relationshipÂ with her own mother. The volume also includes five short stories, two song lyrics,Â a puppet play, and the nonfiction sketch "East Side: North Africa." (Paul Bowles'sÂ rewrite of "East Side: North Africa," published in 1966, under Jane's name, as theÂ short story "Everything Is Nice," is also included as an appendix), as well asÂ fragments from two abandoned novels, a section of Two Serious Ladies cut fromÂ an earlier draft, four abandoned stories, one unfinished play, and oneÂ autobiographical fragment. Rounding out the volume are 133 letters, includingÂ candid portraits of such friends and acquaintances as John Ashbery, WilliamÂ Burroughs, Ira Gershwin, Allen Ginsberg, Carson McCullers, Sylvia Plath, PaulÂ Robeson, Susan Sontag, Gertrude Stein, Gore Vidal, Eudora Welty, and TennesseeÂ Williams. The letters are introduced with headnotes by editor Millicent Dillon, plusÂ 10 pages of photographs have been reproduced from the original edition of theÂ letters.

LIBRARY OF AMERICAÂ is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nationâ€™s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, Americaâ€™s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.
Country USA
Brand Library of America
Manufacturer Library of America
Binding Hardcover
Color Black
ReleaseDate 2017-01-31
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781598535136

Country	USA
Brand	Library of America
Manufacturer	Library of America
Binding	Hardcover
Color	Black
ReleaseDate	2017-01-31
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781598535136

Jane Bowles: Collected Writings (LOA #288): Two Serious Ladies / In the Summer House / stories & other writings / letters

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