Jennifer Clement "Widow Basquiat: A Memoir" (Canongate Books)
In Widow Basquiat, Jennifer Clement writes of Suzanne Mallouk's encounter with Jean-Michel Basquiat and the art and club scene in NYC in the early 80s. She profiles Basquiat's one-time lover, friend, and muse in a series of short, poetic vignettes interspersed with what appear to be the subject's own recollections. Clement selects evocative details to convey people, time, and place.
The book withholds judgement. Drug use and promiscuity are shown for what they were in these people's lives at the time.
At first, I wasn't sure whether the collection of vignettes would be perhaps too sketchy to be satisfying, but by the end of the book, I had changed my mind.
In fact, I enjoyed the style of this book very much. The writer used even the rhythm of the text to convey the mood of a very dark glittery tumult that surrounded Suzanne in this. I found it very easy to become enthralled and empathetic with the characters portrayed.
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