{"product_id":"american-genius-a-comedy-9781593763114","title":"American Genius, a Comedy","description":"\u003cb\u003eGrand and minute, elegiac and hilarious, Lynne Tillman expands the possibilities of the American novel in this dazzling read about a former historian ruminating on her own life and the lives of others--named a best book of the century by \u003ci\u003eVulture\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the hypnotic, masterful \u003ci\u003eAmerican Genius, A Comedy\u003c\/i\u003e, a former historian spending time in a residential home, mental institute, artist's colony, or sanitarium, is spinning tales of her life and ruminating on her many and varied preoccupations: chair design, textiles, pet deaths, family trauma, a lost brother, the Manson family, the Zulu alphabet, loneliness, memory, and sensitive skin--and what \"sensitivity\" means in our culture and society. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eShowing what might happen if Jane Austen were writing in 21st-century America, Tillman fashions a microcosm of American democracy: a scholarly colony functioning like Melville's \u003ci\u003ePequod\u003c\/i\u003e. All this is folded into the narrator's memories and emotional life, culminating in a seance that may offer escape and transcendence--or perhaps nothing at all. This new edition of a contemporary classic features an introduction by novelist Lucy Ives.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLynne Tillman\u003c\/b\u003e is a novelist, short story writer, and cultural critic. Her novels are \u003ci\u003eHaunted Houses\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eMotion Sickness\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eCast in Doubt\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eNo Lease on Life\u003c\/i\u003e, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; \u003ci\u003eAmerican Genius, A Comedy\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eMen and Apparitions\u003c\/i\u003e. Her nonfiction books include \u003ci\u003eThe Velvet Years: Warhol's Factory 1965-1967\u003c\/i\u003e, with photographs by Stephen Shore; \u003ci\u003eBookstore: The Life and Times of Jeannette Watson and Books \u0026amp; Co.\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eWhat Would Lynne Tillman Do?\u003c\/i\u003e, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism. Her most recent short story collections are \u003ci\u003eSomeday This Will Be Funny\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Complete Madame Realism\u003c\/i\u003e. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship and an Andy Warhol\/Creative Capital Arts Writing Fellowship. Tillman is Professor\/Writer-in-Residence in the Department of English at The University of Albany and teaches at the School of Visual Arts' Art Criticism and Writing MFA Program in New York. She lives in Manhattan with bass player David Hofstra. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eLucy Ives\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of the novel \u003ci\u003eLoudermilk\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eImpossible Views of the World\u003c\/i\u003e, which was selected as a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Editors' Choice, and the collection of stories, \u003ci\u003eCosmogony\u003c\/i\u003e. Her writing has appeared in \u003ci\u003eArt in America\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eArtforum\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Baffler\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFrieze\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLapham's Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eVogue\u003c\/i\u003e, among other publications. For five years she was an editor with the online magazine \u003ci\u003eTriple Canopy\u003c\/i\u003e. A graduate of Harvard and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, she holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from New York University.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Soft Skull","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50515881034002,"sku":"9781593763114","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f2f0deaa-a99c-44c5-8e69-e1ac1994ca1a.jpg?v=1731014580","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/american-genius-a-comedy-9781593763114","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}