Yesterday's Burdens

Mehr zum Buch

Originally published in 1933, this novel is the second work by Robert M. Coates, a "Lost Generation" writer and art critic at The New Yorker. Before its release, three chapters appeared in The New Yorker as "The Dada City" (1930) and another in The American Caravan (1931). It was revived in 1975 by Southern Illinois University Press as part of the "Lost American Fiction" series, featuring a new afterword by Malcolm Cowley. A paperback edition followed in 1976, but the novel has been out of print since then. This new edition includes Cowley's afterword and a fresh introduction by Mathilde Roza, an associate professor at Radboud University Nijmegen and author of Following Strangers: The Life and Literary Works of Robert M. Coates. Coates's experimental writing style is likened to a collage, incorporating billboards, advertising slogans, and traffic signs to vividly portray the perceptions and experiences of his characters. The "Dada" spirit in this work captures the chaotic, visually overwhelming, and mentally challenging life of New York City.