Lesbian Biographies, Mental/Psychological Disorder Patients - Biography, U.S. Authors - 20th Century - Literary Biography

Gaslight

Name: Gaslight
Author: Carol Guess
ISBN: 9781887237055

by Carol Guess

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Overview

Carol Guess has composed, from glass-edged fragments of her life and her work as a creative artist, the mosaic of a woman who has fought to be her true self. A nonfiction collection wrapped around a novella called Fat Rosie and Rose, it documents the impact of sexism and homophobia on her professional and personal lives, and uses fictional characters to play out the events. Her adversaries have been many, and formidable. There were those who dictated the ideal shape of her female body and the correct dimensions of her sexuality as she emerged from a childhood in the south, ensnared in sexual exploitation and a spiral of anorexia. The teachers who attempted to extinguish her ambition and identity as a creative artist--because female writing could not possibly rise above the trivial--played their part. And the politics of art and sexuality continue to litter her path as a lesbian academic and a serious artist. Like no other book, Gaslight shares each step of the interior process of creation and of failing to create: the process of becoming a writer. In this extraordinary and unforgettable work, Carol Guess brilliantly illuminates the path to art and to individuality. About the Author The author of two novels, Seeing Dell and Switch, Guess teaches creative writing and gay/lesbian literature at Western Washington University. She lives in Seattle.