Miss MacIntosh, My Darling: Chapter 64: The Bald Childhood of Miss MacIntosh, Part 2, Osceola Archer
Osceola Archer reads Chapter 64, part 2, "The Bald Childhood of Miss MacIntosh", of Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young. Archer (1890-1983) was a stage and film actress part of the Harlem Renaissance. She was a pioneer of the American Negro Theatre, and conducted a highly successful career throughout her whole life. Archer performed in plays for over 50 years, including: Between Two Worlds (1934), The Cat Screams (1942), Debut (1956), and The Crucible (1984).
The second part of Chapter 64 follows a young Miss MacIntosh. Young tells of how it wasn’t until the age of three that Miss MacIntosh realized that she was bald. Upon this realization, every morning she would run from her bed to her mirror to see if she had grown any hair. She gives up this practice when she meets a German architect, who tells her that her head is the most structurally beautiful of them all.
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.
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Historic Audio from the Archives of Charles Ruas
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An unparalleled collection of recovered and restored programs from the seventies produced by Charles Ruas, and featuring Allen Ginsberg, John Giorno, Anaïs Nin, William Boroughs, Buckminster Fuller, Sylvia Plath, Pablo Neruda, and Jorge Luis Borges, among numerous others.
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Marguerite Young: Miss Macintosh, My Darling
RADIO SERIES
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.
The readings in the their entirety can be listened to here, as part of the Historic Audio from the Archives of Charles Ruas.
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.
more 