Miss MacIntosh My Darling: Chapter 66: The Arctic Explorer, Wyatt Cooper

Wyatt Cooper reads Chapter 66 “The Arctic Explorer” of Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young. Wyatt Cooper (1927-1978) was an author, actor, and screenwriter, whose work is often related to Southern American culture. In 1953, he appeared on Broadway in the cast of The Strong Are Lonely at the Broadhurst Theater. Cooper and his wife, Gloria Vanderbilt, were high status New York socialites. He is the father of CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.

In this chapter, Miss. MacIntosh encounters love with a one legged man. He proposes that the two of them “do as the eskimos did” in the arctic. It foretells of her vanity and want for man to leave her to her own vices.

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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