Was She Pretty? is a beautiful exploration of modern love, relationships and jealousy from Leanne Shapton, the author of Swimming Studies and Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry. 'A dreamy exploration of relationships and jealousy ... pithy and deadpan ... it's no self-help book' Salon In this singular exploration of modern love and all its demons, we learn how Martin still takes calls from his ex into another room; ...
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Was She Pretty? is a beautiful exploration of modern love, relationships and jealousy from Leanne Shapton, the author of Swimming Studies and Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry. 'A dreamy exploration of relationships and jealousy ... pithy and deadpan ... it's no self-help book' Salon In this singular exploration of modern love and all its demons, we learn how Martin still takes calls from his ex into another room; Lucy's ex only dated actresses; Steve's got him into S&M; and Alec's ex-girlfriend had a thing for father figures. Through Leanne Shapton's beautifully illustrated snapshots of paranoia, jealousy and anxiety, Was She Pretty? explores the dangers of knowing about a lover's former lover, the discomfiting truths the exes can reveal about ourselves, and the secret hatred and admiration we can feel for those almost-strangers. Leanne Shapton is an artist, illustrator, and writer who was born in Toronto and lives in New York. She is the author of Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry. Her latest book, Swimming Studies, is published July 2012.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good jacket. Size: 8vo-over 7.75"-9.75" tall; 2nd Printing, gift quality hardcover quarter-bound in cream cloth and paper covered boards. Remainder mark on foot of page-block. 198pp text is crisp, fresh-smelling, and profusely illustrated in B/W line drawings. Vine end pps. No writing, highlighting, or soil inside. Original dj is unclipped with negligible soil on the rear panel, displays well in new mylar. Entire relationships are encapsulated in a few, stingingly perfect lines: "Colleen was Walter's ex-girlfriend from med school. She loved to dance with men at weddings." Pricking our insecurities, Shapton introduces us to Kim, whose ex "kept a drawerful of love letters in a kitchen drawer...She would stare at it while she cooked." And Ben's ex, "a physiotherapist for the U.S. men's and women's Olympic swim teams. She wore small white shorts year-round." Fascinated by her own jealousy, Shapton interviewed acquaintances about their anxieties and peccadilloes, and the result is a book of surpassing originality: one of those unusual books that comes along to delight us all, she invites us to peer into the hearts and minds of her characters-while reminding us that we shouldn't be surprised if we see ourselves staring right back.