Mary Gaitskill’s Veronica

Images from the National Book Award Foundation http://nbafictionfinalists.squarespace.com/blog/2012/6/16/2005-1.html

Mary Gaitskill’s second novel tells the story of Alison and her relationship with an older woman with a powerful presence named Veronica. The storyline belongs primarily to Alison, whose life as a teenage runaway selling flowers outside of strip clubs dramatically shifts to the glamorous but tenuous reality as a high fashion model in New York City and Paris. But as her looks and fortune fades, Alison finds herself mired inĀ the daily grind of 1980s as a proofreader in ManhattanĀ where she meets Veronica. Veronica’s illness (she contracts HIV) has a profound affect on Alison, as she tries to manage her ties to family and friends and learn the art of making a living. Veronica was a finalistĀ for a National Book Award in 2005. This book will soon be available in the City Tech bookstore.

Reviews of Veronica include:
Veronica: Two Girls Alive and Dead by Meghan O’Rourke in the New York Times

 

Mary Gaitskill Featured Artist at Literary Arts Festival 2016

Mary Gaitskill Photo: Derek Shapton
Mary Gaitskill Photo: Derek Shapton

Mary Gaitskill has written three books of short stories and three novels including the widely acclaimed Veronica and Bad Behavior. Her writing is recognized for its exacting prose style and sensitive explorations of human relationships and failings, with an eye toward physical interactions, violence, obsession, and desire. Her new novel, The Mare, explores contemporary class, race, and the complex politics of ā€œgivingā€ through the story of a young Dominican girl from Brooklyn who comes to live with a couple in upstate New York through the controversial Fresh Air Fund and how all of their lives are changed. She’ll read at our Literary Arts Festival on March 24, 2016. For more information on Mary Gaitskill, visit her Wikipedia page.