The Autobiography of Cassandra, Princess and Prophetess of Troy - Hardcover

Molinaro, Ursule

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0890970130 ISBN 13: 9780890970133

Publisher: Archer Editions Pr, 1979

Synopsis

This novel tells the Homeric story of Troy from the perspective of the woman who was condemned not to be believed -- the perfect spokesperson for a contemporary feminist novel. Written with Molinaro's typical flair for concision, Cassandra is second only to the classic Positions with White Roses as Molinaro's best novel. And Molinaro has been sensitive to readers whose knowledge of Greek mythology is imperfect (meaning most of us) by providing a witty glossary of the mortals and gods who people this dramatic and subversive story of courage and sacrifice.

About this title

About the Author

Ursule Molinaro was a prolific novelist, playwright, translator and visual artist, the author of 12 novels, two collections of short prose works, innumerable short stories for literary magazines and dozens of translations from French and German. She lived and wrote in French in Paris until shortly after World War II, when she came to New York in 1949 to work as a multilingual proofreader for the newly formed United Nations. Just a few years later, having realized that she would stay in the United States, she made the decision to systematically retrain herself not only to write, but to dream, think, and speak, in the language of her new soil. In the latter part of her life, she developed a method for teaching creative writing that relied wholly upon the oral and taught creative writing at several universities and in her home. She was an avid acrosticist and a self-trained artist (her paintings and collages appear on the covers of her books that were published by small press McPherson and Co.). Molinaro's texts attempt to fulfill a Nietzschian ideal. They hinge on the belief that there is a human supra-psychology that transcends nationality, gender, psychosexual archetypes, and individual linguistic heritages. Using a vast battery of unusual and privileged literary tools, she hoped to arrive at a new set of universals by the stringent crafting of razor-sharp narratives, which come to merciless, acerbic conclusions about culture and go so far as to radically reinterpret Greek myth. During her lifetime, Ursule Molinaro's poems and short stories appeared in a wide variety of magazines, including many prestigious names such as the Chelsea Review (of which she was a founding editor). She knew and corresponded with many well-known writers and artists, including, just to name a few: Albert Camus, Marianne Moore, Anais Nin, and Edith Piaf. A recipient of awards and fellowships from the McDowell Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the PEN American Center. She died in New York City on July 12, 2000.

Review

Molinaro's tender and subtly polemical reconstruction of the Iliad is a great book to read for its exploration of the themes that educated thousands of generations in the West, of women's role in every socieity, of mother/daughter legacies. Its irreverent take on the most famous war and its starkly moving female voices are closer to my heart than any in Homer... --Euridice, American Book Review

A witty and moving novel...complete with gods, Greeks, Trojans, and a cast of thousands. Experimental novelist Molinaro's theory of the overthrown Trojan matriarchy is fascinating, and her prose is a pleasure. --Ms. magazine

An original and convincing theory of the hows and whys of the low status of women in Greek society, a paradoxical fact that has often puzzled students of a literature so rich in strong female roles. ...A book to be read for personal pleasure, for exploration of mother/daughter themes, and of potential use in women's studies courses. --Library Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Archer Editions Pr
• Publication date: 1979
• ISBN 10: 0890970130
• ISBN 13: 9780890970133
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 129