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One Woman Show

Christine Coulson

$24.99

Paperback

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English
Penguin
08 April 2025
A daring feat of storytelling and a wry reflection on womanhood, value and power

Prized, collected, critiqued. One Woman Show revolves around the fictional life of Kitty Whitaker as she is defined by her potential for display and moved from collection to collection through multiple marriages. Christine Coulson, who has written hundreds of exhibition wall labels for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, precisely distils each stage of Kitty's sprawling life into that distinct format, every brief snapshot in time a wry reflection on womanhood, ownership, value and power.

Described with wit, poignancy and humour over the course of the twentieth century, Kitty emerges as an eccentric heroine who disrupts her privileged, porcelain life with both major force and minor transgressions. As human foibles propel each delicately crafted text, Coulson playfully asks- who really gets to tell our stories?
By:  
Imprint:   Penguin
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 198mm,  Width: 129mm,  Spine: 13mm
Weight:   159g
ISBN:   9781802067262
ISBN 10:   1802067264
Pages:   208
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  ELT Advanced ,  Primary
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Christine Coulson spent twenty-five years writing for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her final project was to write wall labels for the museum's new British Galleries. During that time, she dreamt of using the Met's strict label format to describe people as intricate works of art. Her first experiment with this idea described an imaginary woman called Kitty, who became the unlikely protagonist of One Woman Show.

Reviews for One Woman Show

Wildly original…[A] tiny but powerful novel… It’s sometimes snarky, sometimes sad, with enough poignant moments to make me wish it could go on and on. … You can sit down and read it in less time than it takes to drive to the art museum, but you’ll be thinking about it for far longer. If you appreciate truly original structure and storytelling, put this modern masterwork on your reading list. * NPR * Strange, biting, tender, and heartbreaking in turns. AND all at once . . . I read it in one fell swoop. It is brilliant -- Maira Kalman * author of Women Holding Things * A funny and clever take on the interchangeability of women and works of arts as possessions -- Philip Hook * author of Breakfast at Sotheby's * Beautiful, beautiful book . . . the cover is absolutely gorgeous, it would make a delicious Christmas gift * Art Juice Podcast * Coulson tells us Kitty Whitaker’s story stylishly and succinctly through label-length entries * Harper's Bazaar * Compulsive and spry -- Hephzibah Anderson * the Observer * Coulson’s formally inventive, witty novel uses gallery captions to capture Kitty’s journey through the 20th century. At once terse and expansive, this is a literary experiment that intrigues -- Francesca Peacock * the Mail on Sunday * A highly original and imaginative work that captivates and intrigues . . . so brief that it can be read straight through in an hour, but that is not to say it is slight . . . Coulson’s unusual command of language rewards multiple readings * The Irish Times * the writing is clever, witty and deftly – and at times poignantly–executed, and that more than earns One Woman Show its coveted red dot (aka sales sticker) from us’ * Marie Claire Best Books of 2023 * Unconventional… non-narrative paragraphs somehow add up to create mounting tension, with wry social commentary, feminist barbs and psychological insight bursting through the lacquered surface * The Lady *


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