Notes of a Nude Model: & Other Pieces [Paperback]

Harriet Sohmers Zwerling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2003

Part beat memoir, part third person story, Harriet Sohmers Zwerling recalls her life on the edge surrounded by writers and artists of the 50's & 60's. Introduction by Edward Field

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Harriet Sohmers Zwerling is a Manhattanite, born and raised. Attended NYU for her first two years of college, then Black Mountain , then Berkeley. Dropped out and in 1950 arrived in Paris with $200, hoping to stay for a couple of months. Instead, she remained in Europe for nine years, involved in liaisons with both men and women, working at the International Herald Tribune and doing freelance translating for a living. New Story magazine published three of her pieces, next to work by James Baldwin, Alison Lurie and other established writers. Returned to the States in 1959, and got involved with the Beat scene in New York and Provincetown. Her work was published in Swank magazine, and the anthology. The Bold New Women issued by Fawcett. She also edited, with Bill Ward, the important literary mag, Provincetown Review.

Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Spuyten Duyvil (January 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881471853
• ISBN-13: 978-1881471851
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,503,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant gem of a book, September 24, 2004

By 

reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Notes of a Nude Model: & Other Pieces (Paperback)

This book is beautifully written and full of basic truths about life, love, loss and the ways humans behave. I found it gripping and memorable.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks So Much Harriet . . . ., March 30, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Notes of a Nude Model: & Other Pieces (Paperback)

She is an outrageous woman - but honest. People are drawn to her because of this . . .because her life has been so "outsized" compared to most people's. Wherever she is, she is the focus - her energy, charm, charisma - something. What is interesting is no matter how out of control she is - in some overwhelming situations - she is able to bring a laser sharp perception to bear on it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TOTALLY UNIQUE: A Rave From A Reader, March 20, 2004

By 

Edward Field (new york) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Notes of a Nude Model: & Other Pieces (Paperback)

Recvd Harriet's book and read it in a day. What a great little book! It fits within that pantheon of women of the Beat era like Joyce Johnson, HattieJones, etc. But it is something much more than that interms of "woman power". Why not longer??? I'm sure drawing from her life experience that Harriet could do an extensive amazing chronicle of her life & times in bohemia. I certainly wanted to hear more about her relationship with Alfred [Chester]--there's a lot more she could tell us. But I'm sure that Alfred is just one character among many others she could give insight into. As I mentioned previously to you: I find the 50s American ex-pat community in Europe fascinating material & yet largely ignored... You get a taste of it in The Beat Hotel but those guys were almostinsulated from the action compared with some of the others who made the decade. & Harriet is a real international bohemian! But let's not forget Harriet's own personal story.What an adventuress: a genuine personified spirit ofEros battling the forces of Thanatos! And she is astylist in her own right. I think that the title pieceis one of the best descriptive essays that I have ever read in terms of how it turns-the-tables & gives us the perspective of the object-of-gaze as both observor& participant. Harriet's figures and allusions are eloquently apt and enthralling. What insights! Totally unique! That essay should be anthologized. Thus, my modest appraisal of Harriet's book....Best,chris natale peditto, publisher/editor Heat PressPO Box 26218Los Angeles, CA 90026