The Princess of 72nd Street

The Princess of 72nd Street - Penguin Modern Classics

Reprint

Paperback (02 Jan 2025)

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Publisher's Synopsis

Ellen is a single artist living alone on New York's Upper West Side in the 1970s. She is beset by old boyfriends, paint pigment choices, and, occasionally, by 'radiances' - episodes of joyous, reckless unreality. Under the influence of 'radiances' she becomes Princess Esmeralda, and West 72nd Street becomes the kingdom over which she rules. Life as Esmeralda is a liberating experience for Ellen, who, despite the chaos and stigma these episodes can bring, relishes the respite from the confines of the everyday. And yet those around her, particularly the men in her life, are threatened by her incarnation as Esmeralda, and by the freedom that it gives her.

The Princess of 72nd Street is Elaine Kraf's witty, dizzyingly inventive take on female liberation and mental health, a work of immense literary power and unbridled energy. Provocative at the time of its publication in 1979 and thoroughly iconoclastic, it is a remarkable portrait of an unforgettable woman.

Book information

ISBN: 9780241715277
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint: Penguin Classics
Pub date:
Edition: Reprint
DEWEY: 813.54
DEWEY edition: 23
Language: English
Number of pages: 160
Weight: 200g
Height: 198mm
Width: 129mm
Spine width: 15mm