Dawn Powell: A Biography

Plot

Over the past decade, the works of Dawn Powell (1896-1965) have enjoyed a spectacular revival. Now Tim Page has written the first biography of this brilliant and insightful American author, whose longtime cult following has blossomed into well-deserved general popularity. Powell came to New York City at the age of 21, a gifted and ambitious young woman from small-town Ohio. There she would live for another 47 years, but she always managed to maintain the fresh perspective of a 'permanent visitor, ' exalting the multiplicity and sheer sensory overload of her beloved Manhattan. This is what she distilled into her extensive and impressive body of work: hundreds of short stories and articles, dozens of poems, at least 10 plays, a magnificent diary that spans 35 years, and -- the achievement that meant the most to her -- a number of dizzying and inventive novels. For such a witty woman, Powell lived a restless and troubled life. Her youth was a ghastly one, a long series of deaths, disruptions, and petty cruelties. Her only son was born mentally and emotionally impaired, and her husband became an alcoholic. She drank too much herself and suffered from mysterious health problems for most of her life. Her mood swings were drastic and sometimes incapacitating. In her '60s, she was desperately poor and, indeed, essentially homeless for a time. Throughout it all, she persevered -- and now, with the reissue of her life's work, she has triumphed.

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