Miss MacIntosh, My Darling: Chapter 81, part 1: The Little Toy Salesman Shepwrecked, Earle Hyman

Earle Hyman reads from Chapter 81, part 1, “Esther Longtree and the Little Toy Salesman” of Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young. Hyman grew up in Brooklyn and has had a successful stage career in New York for over 40 years. He has been nominated for numerous awards, including an Emmy, for his performance as Cliff Huxtable’s father on The Cosby Show.

A curiously successful toy salesman is introduced in this chapter. He makes his living by selling toys to people, some of whom have already lost their children. His clientele and miniature scale and features proves to be rather alluring to Esther Longtree. He feeds from a baby bottle because he is so small. He only has three teeth and no taste buds or tear ducts. Esther believes him to be someone she once knew, but this is impossible. He claims to be a displaced ship wreck survivor. Among his many abnormalities the circumstances around the wreck invite the most suspicion.

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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