Miss MacIntosh, My Darling: Chapter 1

Author and poet Doris Dana reads a portrait of Marguerite Young, based on an article published in Changes magazine by Erica Duncan. Actress Betty Lou Holland then reads Chapter 1 of Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young.

Often compared to James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, Young's novel resonates with unique and poignant observations of American culture, in an epic and surrealist poetic prose. It took the under-recognized, enigmatic and iconoclastic author eighteen years of work to complete this dense, two volume novel.

In 1976-77, Charles Ruas produced a series of WBAI radio programs focused on literature and radio performance, called The Reading Experiment. As part of this series, Miss MacIntosh, My Darling was read over a year-long period by Marguerite Young’s contemporaries from the New York City literature, music, and theater communities. All readings are underscored with soundscapes and music by artist Rob Wynne.

This program has been restored by The Clocktower Radio; with the assistance of Charles Ruas; and by agreement with The Yale Beinecke Library, home to the Marguerite Young Papers. Special thanks to Dr. Contance Eichenlaub for her passion and generosity.

•