"Caustically funny and ebullient stories. . . . Diski's is the kind of
voice of which we need more, of which we now have one fewer. But she has
paved a subversive path through the forest for others to follow." --
Vanity Fair
*Named a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2017*
WITH A PREFACE BY HEIDI JULAVITS, AUTHOR OF THE FOLDED CLOCK
The only story collection from the beloved Jenny Diski--darkly funny,
subversive, sexy, and eccentric tales from one of the most original and
intelligent voices of our time.
Jenny Diski's prose is as sharp and steely as her imagination is wild
and wondrous. When she died of cancer in April 2016, after chronicling
her illness in strikingly honest essays in the London Review of Books,
readers, admirers, and critics around the world mourned the loss. In a
cool and unflinching tone that came to define her singular voice, she
explored the subjects of sex, power, domesticity, femininity, hysteria,
and loneliness with humor and honesty,
The stories in The Vanishing Princess showcase a rarely seen side of
this beloved writer, channeling both the piercing social examination of
her nonfiction and the vivid, dreamlike landscapes of her novels. In a
Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale turned on its head, a miller's daughter rises
to power and wealth to rule over her kingdom and outwit the title
villain. "Bathtime" tells the story of a woman's life through her
attempts to build the perfect bathtub, chasing an elusive moment of
peace. In "Short Curcuit," the author mines her own bouts in and out of
mental institutions outside London to question whether those we think
are mad are really the sanest among us.
Longtime fans of Diski and those who have discovered her since her death
will find much to treasure here, in her only short story collection,
released in the US for the very first time. The Vanishing Princess is
another vital stop on Jenny Diski's journey for meaning and beauty in
her prolific writing, one that feels as fresh and necessary as if it
were brand-new.
