Before

Zusatztext “Spare yet penetrating. . . . Before presents a haunting three-month snapshot of a 20-something teetering recklessly on the edge of ruin.” — The Washington Post “Spanidou possesses a poet's gift for language and an ability to capture a sense of time and place with strobe-lit images.”— The New York Times "Powerful. . . . Before is a short book! yet it ends up seeming much larger! even as it remains bracingly compact! tightly coiled."— San Francisco Chronicle “Shimmering! hypnotic. . . . [Spanidou's] sentences have just the right measure of elegant lassitude! of quiet! humming sexiness! and of a singular devotion to seeing things deeply! no matter what the cost.”— O! The Oprah Magazine Informationen zum Autor Irini Spanidou is the author of the novels God's Snake and Fear . She has taught at New York University, Brooklyn College, Sarah Lawrence College, Bennington College, State University of New York at Purchase, Cooper Union, Parson's School of Design, and the Poetry Center at the 92nd Street Y. She is the recipient of a New York State Foundation for the Arts grant and a Civitella Ranieri Fellowship. She lives in New York City. Klappentext From the author of God's Snake! and Fear comes a stunning novel that shines light on what it means to be beautiful! and to be possessed—by oneself! and by others. The setting is 1970s New York City! a time and place of creativity! sexual freedom! and unforeseen dangers. At its center is Beatrice! who is twenty-five! mesmerizingly lovely! intelligent! and married to Ned! a volatile painter whose obsession with her has turned to hatred. Beatrice is desired by everyone around her: by Faye! her seductive! bawdy childhood friend; by Cyril! a lonely! charismatic Vietnam veteran; by Chris! a young heroin addict. And then there is Perkins! the oddly threatening man next door. An intoxicating mix of desire! longing! and menace! Before captures a dizzying time in America. SoHo was dangerous then. Most buildings still housed working factories, many stood empty, and only a few had been turned into living lofts. Late into the night, pockets where new bars had sprung up were boisterous with life, light streaming out onto the street like iridescent mist and rock music blaring as one walked by. But the surrounding areas, often stretching for blocks, were all but deserted and the scattering of solitary rows of lighted windows did little to assuage a passerby's fears. Every day came new reports of robberies, muggings, a shooting or a rape. Just that week, unable to force open the police lock on the door of a loft, the robbers had taken an ax to the adjoining wall, hacking a four-by-five hole. The eight-story building where Beatrice and Ned James lived had only two other tenants. One lived on the floor below. The other, a man named Perkins, lived on the same floor but had been in prison since before they moved in and they had never seen him. That morning, as Beatrice came out of her loft, he was standing at the opposite end of the hall, locking his door. His back was turned to her and he could not see or hear her through the loud music coming from downstairs, yet his body perceptibly stiffened. Beatrice waited for him to turn around so she could introduce herself but when he did, no word would come out of her mouth. His eyes stayed on her with intimate persistence, and he too said nothing. In a moment, he tossed his keys up in the air, caught them in his fist, put them in his pocket—each movement deliberately slow—then he pulled the watch cap he was wearing lower down his forehead. Though he was standing close to the stairs, he waited for her to go down first then followed, keeping a steady two steps behind. For five flights, she had no room to breathe. When she came to the ground floor, she rushed to the door and let it slam after her. Turning, she waited for ...

Product details

• Authors: Irini Spanidou
• Publisher: Vintage USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 08.07.2008
• EAN: 9780375713149
• ISBN: 978-0-375-71314-9
• No. of pages: 224
• Dimensions: 131 mm x 218 mm x 17 mm
• Series: Vintage International; Vintage International
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature