Pandora's Handbag [Paperback]

Elizabeth Young (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2001

For many years, Elizabeth Young has been one of the few critics in England to champion new writing and the avant-garde. Pandora's Handbag is a unique combination of autobiography, commentary, published journalism and writer's guide for would-be Arts journalists. A riveting read, the book contains revealing interviews with Herbert Huncke, Jayne County, Dennis Cooper, Edward Gorey and Poppy Z. Brite, amongst others.

o Flyer Mailing to American fiction departments

o Ad in The Nation

Elizabeth Young is a critic, arts journalist, and the co-author of Shopping in Space: Essays on American "Blank Generation" Fiction published by Grove Atlantic.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Art critic, book reviewer, and literary journalist Young, who died in 2001 from the hepatitis C virus, polished her craft in various British periodicals, such as the New Statesman, the London Review of Books, and the Guardian. The columns, reviews, and essays gathered here display Young's acerbic wit, trenchant insights, and macabre humor. Her subjects range from the novels of Jane Bowles, Brett Easton Ellis, Irvine Welsh, and Alan Warner to drug legislation, the nature of writing, and the painful suffering she experiences as she is dying. Also included are interviews with avant-garde novelist Poppy Z. Brite, rock groupie Pamela Des Barres, sf and fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett, and postmodern novelist T. Coraghessan Boyle. Young's writing combines the irreverence of Cynthia Heimel, the stylized cultural arrogance of Camille Paglia, and the staccato prose style of the beats. Her eclectic musings resemble the book pages of the Village Voice and will appeal to literary tastes that prefer Burroughs to Bellow. Recommended for large libraries. Henry L. Carrigan Jr., Lancaster, PA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"'A definitive work of contemporary cultural criticism' New Statesman; 'Young is persuasive and suceeds in her aim of making such literary criticism a good read' Guardian; 'The only critic on the planet to accuse Ellis of morality. And she's right.' Seattle Weekly"

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail; 1 edition (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852425261
• ISBN-13: 978-1852425265
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,189,517 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book's a work of genius, July 19, 2004

By 

J. DAVIDSON (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pandora's Handbag (Paperback)

Trust me on this: if you care about books, this is one you absolutely must read. Elizabeth Young has a stupendous prose style, a sinuous & interesting taste and a way of hooking you from page 1. I only heard about this because someone I know at Serpent's Tail gave me a copy, but it's a crime this book isn't better known in the USA. I am about to buy several copies so that I can give them away & make some converts.