The Bell Jar
- New York: Harper & Row, 1971
New York: Harper & Row, 1971. First American edition. Near Fine/Near Fine. The novel was first published in the United Kingdom under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas in 1963. A Near Fine copy in like dust jacket. Some fading to topstain. Dust jacket with very slight edgewear. Overall a very appealing copy.
The Bell Jar was Plath's only novel and the final book she published in her lifetime. A largely autobiographical work, The Bell Jar reflects Plath's downward spiral into mental illness; she committed suicide a month after the novel's publication in 1963. Through her character Esther Greenwood, Plath unfolds a fictionalized account of her own life that is "told with blistering honesty and vivid attention to detail. It's a raw, unsettling book with flashes of brilliance, a roman a clef that's a tormented footnote to Plath's tormented poetry" (The Guardian). Like Plath herself, Esther struggles in the space between genius and madness; having escaped from a controlling mother, she seeks to own her life but falls into a deep and smothering depression. "Esther's predicament is how to develop a mature identity as a woman, and be true to that self rather than conform to societal norms. It's this quest that makes The Bell Jar a founding text of Anglo-American feminism" (The Guardian).
Feminist Companion, 859. Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket.
The Bell Jar was Plath's only novel and the final book she published in her lifetime. A largely autobiographical work, The Bell Jar reflects Plath's downward spiral into mental illness; she committed suicide a month after the novel's publication in 1963. Through her character Esther Greenwood, Plath unfolds a fictionalized account of her own life that is "told with blistering honesty and vivid attention to detail. It's a raw, unsettling book with flashes of brilliance, a roman a clef that's a tormented footnote to Plath's tormented poetry" (The Guardian). Like Plath herself, Esther struggles in the space between genius and madness; having escaped from a controlling mother, she seeks to own her life but falls into a deep and smothering depression. "Esther's predicament is how to develop a mature identity as a woman, and be true to that self rather than conform to societal norms. It's this quest that makes The Bell Jar a founding text of Anglo-American feminism" (The Guardian).
Feminist Companion, 859. Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket.
Details
Title
The Bell Jar
Author
Plath, Sylvia
Condition
Near Fine
Publisher
Harper & Row: New York
Date
1971
Edition
First American edition