{"product_id":"w-3-9781736370902","title":"W-3","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eAn extraordinary portrait of a brilliant mind on the brink: A new edition of the 1974 memoir by the author of the acclaimed collection \u003cem\u003eCalm Sea and Prosperous Voyage\u003c\/em\u003e. With an introduction by Yiyun Li.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cem\u003e\"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin--real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business; time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life could begin. At last it had dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.\"\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e From the author of the acclaimed collection \u003cem\u003eCalm Sea and Prosperous Voyage\u003c\/em\u003e comes \u003cem\u003eW-3\u003c\/em\u003e, the account of a brilliant mind on the brink. In 1968, Bette Howland was thirty-one, a single mother of two young sons, struggling to support her family on the part-time salary of a librarian; and laboring day and night at her typewriter to be a writer. One afternoon, while staying at her friend Saul Bellow's apartment, she swallowed a bottle of pills. \u003cem\u003eW-3\u003c\/em\u003e is both an extraordinary portrait of the community of Ward 3, the psychiatric wing of the Chicago hospital where she was admitted; and record of a defining moment in a writer's life. The book itself would be her salvation: she wrote herself out of the grave. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e First published in 1974, the memoir that launched Bette Howland's career is being reissued as part of A Public Space's ongoing revival of \"one of the significant writers of her generation.\" (Saul Bellow) With a new introduction by Yiyun Li.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBette Howland\u003c\/strong\u003e (1937-2017) published three books in her lifetime: \u003cem\u003eW-3\u003c\/em\u003e, and the story collections \u003cem\u003eBlue in Chicago\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThings to Come and Go\u003c\/em\u003e. She received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1984, after which she did not publish another book. \u003cem\u003eCalm Sea and Prosperous Voyage\u003c\/em\u003e, her selected stories, was published in 2019, restoring to the canon the work of a remarkable writer. She was born and raised in Chicago. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eYiyun Li\u003c\/strong\u003e's books include \u003cem\u003eWhere Reasons End\u003c\/em\u003e, which received the 2019 PEN\/Jean Stein Award; the essay collection \u003cem\u003eDear Friend, From My Life I Write to You in Your Life\u003c\/em\u003e; and the novels \u003cem\u003eThe Vagrants\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eMust I Go\u003c\/em\u003e. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, and Windham-Campbell Prize, among other honors, she teaches at Princeton University.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Public Space Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50725648400658,"sku":"9781736370902","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_29065fb1-2167-4536-b23f-b4437a9b86da.jpg?v=1734837906","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/w-3-9781736370902","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}