{"product_id":"w-3-9780998267531","title":"W-3","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eAn extraordinary portrait of a brilliant mind on the brink: A new edition of the 1974 memoir by the author of the acclaimed collection \u003cem\u003eCalm Sea and Prosperous Voyage\u003c\/em\u003e. With an introduction by Yiyun Li.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cem\u003e\"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin--real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business; time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life could begin. At last it had dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.\"\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e From the author of the acclaimed collection \u003cem\u003eCalm Sea and Prosperous Voyage\u003c\/em\u003e comes \u003cem\u003eW-3\u003c\/em\u003e, the account of a brilliant mind on the brink. In 1968, Bette Howland was thirty-one, a single mother of two young sons, struggling to support her family on the part-time salary of a librarian; and laboring day and night at her typewriter to be a writer. One afternoon, while staying at her friend Saul Bellow's apartment, she swallowed a bottle of pills. \u003cem\u003eW-3\u003c\/em\u003e is both an extraordinary portrait of the community of Ward 3, the psychiatric wing of the Chicago hospital where she was admitted; and record of a defining moment in a writer's life. The book itself would be her salvation: she wrote herself out of the grave. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e First published in 1974, the memoir that launched Bette Howland's career is being reissued as part of A Public Space's ongoing revival of \"one of the significant writers of her generation.\" (Saul Bellow) With a new introduction by Yiyun Li.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Public Space Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/12\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780998267531\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.10h x 5.00w x 0.90d","brand":"Bette Howland","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":38026111746229,"sku":"9780998267531","price":22.1,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_fd6ac696-d03e-4a05-b6fc-749ec2c25bcc.jpg?v=1609189455","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/w-3-9780998267531","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}