Five Novels by Dawn Powell. 1996 Library of America, 1068 pages. According to Publishers Weekly "In the literary circles of Powell's (1897-1965) post-WW II Manhattan, 'art is a cigarette ad,' money and insincerity go hand-in-hand, a friend is an opportunity to talk about oneself, and the word identifying what lovers do for each other is 'punish.'" LARB writes of Powell "A social satirist in a league with Mark Twain, Powell never found a large audience, and her literary reputation seems perpetually on the brink of flourishing." Powell was often compared to Dorothy Parker, however her work had fallen out of print. In the late eighties, partly on account of Gore Vidal's championing, her work was reissued, along with her deliciously gossipy diaries. This volume contains her early five novels: Dance Night, Come back to Sorrento, Turn Magic Wheel, Angels on Toast, and A Time to be Born. Condition: VG, missing slipcase "This was no time to cry over one broken heart."
