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Before by Irini Spanidou
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Before

By Irini Spanidou

By Irini Spanidou

By Irini Spanidou

By Irini Spanidou

Best Seller

Part of Vintage International

Part of Vintage International

Paperback $13.95

Jul 08, 2008 | ISBN 9780375713149

Ebook $8.99

Nov 26, 2008 | ISBN 9780307482082

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    Before by Irini Spanidou
    Paperback $13.95
    Jul 08, 2008 | ISBN 9780375713149

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    • Paperback $13.95

      Jul 08, 2008 | ISBN 9780375713149

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      Nov 26, 2008 | ISBN 9780307482082

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    About Before

    From the author of God’s Snake, and Fear comes a stunning novel that shines light on what it means to be beautiful, and to be possessed—by oneself, and by others.

    The setting is 1970s New York City, a time and place of creativity, sexual freedom, and unforeseen dangers. At its center is Beatrice, who is twenty-five, mesmerizingly lovely, intelligent, and married to Ned, a volatile painter whose obsession with her has turned to hatred. Beatrice is desired by everyone around her: by Faye, her seductive, bawdy childhood friend; by Cyril, a lonely, charismatic Vietnam veteran; by Chris, a young heroin addict. And then there is Perkins, the oddly threatening man next door.

    An intoxicating mix of desire, longing, and menace, Before captures a dizzying time in America.

    About Before

    From the author of God’s Snake, and Fear comes a stunning novel that shines light on what it means to be beautiful, and to be possessed—by oneself, and by others.

    The setting is 1970s New York City, a time and place of creativity, sexual freedom, and unforeseen dangers. At its center is Beatrice, who is twenty-five, mesmerizingly lovely, intelligent, and married to Ned, a volatile painter whose obsession with her has turned to hatred. Beatrice is desired by everyone around her: by Faye, her seductive, bawdy childhood friend; by Cyril, a lonely, charismatic Vietnam veteran; by Chris, a young heroin addict. And then there is Perkins, the oddly threatening man next door.

    An intoxicating mix of desire, longing, and menace, Before captures a dizzying time in America.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Also in Vintage International

    The Rainbow
    Mosquitoes

    Also in Vintage International

    The Rainbow
    Mosquitoes

    Also by Irini Spanidou

    Fear
    God's Snake
    See all books by Irini Spanidou

    Also by Irini Spanidou

    Fear
    God's Snake
    See all books by Irini Spanidou

    About Irini Spanidou

    Irini Spanidou is the author of the novels God’s Snake, Before, and Fear. She has taught at numerous institutions, including New York University, Sarah Lawrence College, Bennington College, and Parsons School of Design. She is the recipient of a New York State… More about Irini Spanidou

    About Irini Spanidou

    Irini Spanidou is the author of the novels God’s Snake, Before, and Fear. She has taught at numerous institutions, including New York University, Sarah Lawrence College, Bennington College, and Parsons School of Design. She is the recipient of a New York State… More about Irini Spanidou

    Product Details

    Category: Literary Fiction

    Paperback | $13.95
    Published by Vintage
    Jul 08, 2008 | 224 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780375713149

    Category: Literary Fiction

    Ebook | $8.99
    Published by Vintage
    Nov 26, 2008 | 224 Pages | ISBN 9780307482082
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    Praise

    “Spare yet penetrating. . . . Before presents a haunting three-month snapshot of a 20-something teetering recklessly on the edge of ruin.” —The Washington Post“Spanidou possesses a poet’s gift for language and an ability to capture a sense of time and place with strobe-lit images.”—The New York Times"Powerful. . . . Before is a short book, yet it ends up seeming much larger, even as it remains bracingly compact, tightly coiled."—San Francisco Chronicle “Shimmering, hypnotic. . . . [Spanidou’s] sentences have just the right measure of elegant lassitude, of quiet, humming sexiness, and of a singular devotion to seeing things deeply, no matter what the cost.”—O, The Oprah Magazine

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