#dawnpowell

Original post on c.im

www.columbusmonthly.com/story/lifestyle/features...

>> "New Yorker" ... film critic Richard Brody became the latest media figure to celebrate Powell, declaring her nine novels written from 1929 to […]

Earlier this evening I enjoyed the satisfaction of coming to the end of a book I enjoyed very much, Dawn Powell's 1948 novel "The Locusts Have No King".

I've posted about this author before; this is the fifth novel of hers I have read, and it impressed me as possibly […]

[Original post on c.im]

Today is International Women’s Day and the search for a record of #DawnPowell where and when she was buried on Hart Island appears to be over. Debra Lapa recently found her listed in a city burial ledger from 1976. She was buried In Plot 90 Section II, Grave 26, Stable Area

[Image Description: a graphic featuring an old black and white photo showing two tables of patio diners, and the words No good deed of hers was ever more appreciated than this simple appearance at the table, for her natty plaid suit and simple good looks gave point to her mother‘s endless anecdote as well as excuse to her mother‘s mere existence, something the group she was now entertaining had doubted could be done.]

#SundaySentence from Angels on Toast by Dawn Powell

#DawnPowell

It's stunning how little he is remembered today, but he really was one of the most talented American novelists of his era.

(I feel the same way about his contemporary #DawnPowell)

[Image Description: an illustration of a married couple that conveys tension and marital discord and the words He had always been glad Mary had been so well brought up that she wouldn’t dream of making a scene; but this silent indignation could get your goat just as much as a couple of plates flying through the air.]

#SundaySentence from Angels on Toast by Dawn Powell

#CurrentlyReading
#DawnPowell

Interior of an old-fashioned restaurant with mirrors, globe lamps, a tiled floor, marble-topped tables with a chess or checker board on one of them. Customers seated at the tables and a black-coated waiter in the background. Photo by Berenice Abbott.

The Julien waiters were forthright self-respecting individuals who felt their first duty was to protect the cafe from customers, their second to keep customers and employers in their proper places. The fact that only two of the marble-topped tables were occupied was a state of business perversely satisfactory to these waiters, who had the more leisure for meditation and the exchange of private insults. A young Jersey-looking couple peered curiously in the doorway looking for some spectacular rout that would explain the place's cosmopolitan reputation, then drew back puzzled at seeing only two patrons. Karl, the Alsatian with the piratical mustaches, turned down a chair at each of his three empty tables, indicating mythical reservations, folded his arms again and stared contentedly at the chipped cupids on the ceiling. The more excitable Guillaume, given to muttering personal comments behind his patrons' backs, flapped his napkin busily as if shooing out flies, and shouted after the innocent little couple, "Kitchen closed no, nothing to eat, kitchen closed."

L: the Lafayette Hotel café, by Berenice Abbott.
R: Powell describes the Julien waiters in The Wicked Pavilion.
📚 #DawnPowell #GreenwichVillage #BereniceAbbott

It's an absolutely brutal satire of ambition, art, and sexual politics in mid-century Manhattan.

I've read several books by #DawnPowell (including this one years ago) and she's scandalously underrated today. Closest comparison is probably John O'Hara, so those who like BUTTERFIELD8 will love this!

Dawn Powell. You cna read her novels and learn how to live.

#dawnpowell

September 5.• "Yow"—old cat losing memory, stand at door scratching ear wondering if this was the way he went to jump up on a nice bed or was this where there was a broad windowsill with sunshine waiting to warm his back? Had he had breakfast? Or was it time for lunch? Did the queer feeling in his belly mean he hadn't eaten or had eaten too much or should he just throw up? If it was to throw up he must be sure to go in the living room, do it on a Persian rug so no one would notice. This is a Forsyte saga.

A note from Dawn Powell's 1958 diary about her unfinished & unpublished cat book, Yow:

#Caturday #DawnPowell #Yow

Did somebody mention Carl Van Vechten's "Parties"?

This, from 1930, is another volume from my mother's bookshelf that I keep meaning to read.

And yes, I love "The Wicked Pavilion."

#CarlVanVechten #Parties #DawnPowell

Cover of The Diaries of Dawn Powell; a black & white photo of DP holding a cat.

Diary entry by Dawn Powell, Sept. 29, 1945: My dear cat Perkins died today - very sweetly, very quietly, daintily, a lady wanting to give as little trouble as possible."

The death of Perkins, Dawn Powell's cat, 1945.
#Caturday #DawnPowell #Lit

Trade paperback of "The Golden Spur" by Dawn Powell. Yellow & white type on a maroon background with a high-contrast photo of a man at a cafe table; detail of original photo by Berenice Abbott.

#BookChallenge 📚 #Lit Day 18

The challenge is to choose 20 books that greatly influenced you. One book per day for 20 days. No explanation, no reviews. Just covers.

#DawnPowell

Cover design: Susan Mitchell. Cover photo: detail of black-and-white photo by Berenice Abbott.