Description
Pandora’s Handbag: Adventures in the Book World by Elizabeth Young is a collection of her writings as an arts and literary critic, combining criticism, interviews and autobiographical material. Young traces her fascination with books from childhood, when three American novels introduced her to a world far removed from her Calvinistic Scottish upbringing.
The collection brings together previously published articles in their entirety, retaining their original titles and accompanied by additional notes. Young writes on a wide range of literary and cultural subjects, alongside interviews with figures including Herbert Huncke, Jayne County, Dennis Cooper, Edward Gorey and Poppy Z. Brite. It also includes two campaigning articles on drug legislation and hepatitis C that became influential texts.
Witty, incisive and personal, the book offers both a portrait of Young’s development as a critic and a selection of her distinctive writing on books, writers and contemporary culture. A good choice for readers interested in literary criticism, arts journalism, books and the lives and work of unconventional writers.
