{"product_id":"contradiction-days-an-artist-on-the-verge-of-motherhood-hardcover","title":"Contradiction Days: An Artist on the Verge of Motherhood - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJoanna Novak\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFor readers of Rachel Cusk and Maggie Nelson, the rapturous memoir of a soon-to-be-mother whose obsession with the reclusive painter Agnes Martin threatens to upend her life\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFive months pregnant and struggling with a creative block, JoAnna Novak becomes obsessed with the enigmatic abstract expressionist painter Agnes Martin. She is drawn to the contradictions in Martin's life as well as her art--the soft and exacting brushstrokes she employs for grid-like compositions that are both rigid and dreamy. But what most calls to JoAnna is Martin's dedication to her work in the face of paranoid schizophrenia. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUneasy with the changes her pregnant body is undergoing, JoAnna relapses into damaging old habits and thought patterns. When she confides in her doctor that she's struggling with depression and suicidal ideation, he tells her she must stop being so selfish, given she has a baby on the way, and start taking antidepressants. Appalled by his patronizing tone and disregard of her mental health history, JoAnna instead turns to Martin for guidance, adopting the artist's doctrine of joyful solitude and isolation. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJoAnna heads to Taos, where Martin lived for decades, and gives herself three weeks to model her hermetic existence: phone off, email off, no talking to her husband, no touching the dog. Out of a deep, solitary engagement with a remarkable artist's body of work emerges an entirely new way for JoAnna to relate to the contradictions of her own body and face up to the joys and challenges of impending motherhood.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJoAnna Novak\u003c\/b\u003e's short story collection \u003ci\u003eMeaningful Work\u003c\/i\u003e won the Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Contest. She is the author of three books of poetry, most recently \u003ci\u003eNew Life, \u003c\/i\u003e and a novel, \u003ci\u003eI Must Have You\u003c\/i\u003e. Her work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Paris Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, and other publications.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 256\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.93 x 8.64 x 5.87 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 25, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51772472787232,"sku":"9781646220762","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/830c40be4d73579f7de9ceff03039e6e.webp?v=1780406478","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/contradiction-days-an-artist-on-the-verge-of-motherhood-hardcover","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}