Miss MacIntosh, My Darling: Chapter 81, part 2: Esther Longtree and the Little Toy Salesman, Earle Hyman

Earle Hyman reads from Chapter 81, part 2, “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.

The events leading up to the wreckage of the Little Toy Salesman's ship are explained. He does not believe he was wrong to stay on the only lifeboat and watch his fellow passengers drown. In some ways, he feels justified in his decision to not intervene because of the hostility that they had shown him. Despite this lapse in character, his relationship with Esther continues to blossom.

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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