MANHATTAN SUICIDE ADDICT [マンハッタン自殺未遂常習犯]

Accumulation, Obsession, Self-Obliteration, New York

MANHATTAN SUICIDE ADDICT [マンハッタン自殺未遂常習犯]

By Yayoi Kusama, foreword by Herbert Read, afterword by Shuzo Takiguchi

(1978)

Rare first edition of Kusama's first novel, never translated into English, illustrated with the artist's own work.

Very good.

Price: $4,500.00

MANHATTAN SUICIDE ADDICT [マンハッタン自殺未遂常習犯]

"In an interview, [Ryu] Murakami called me a 'genius' and said, 'the harrowing psychological tension of Yayoi Kusama's novels, the descriptions of life on the border between the everyday world and an extremely strange one, gives them a boundless reality. In this respect she has no peers.'" — Kusama, INFINITY NET

MANHATTAN SUICIDE ADDICT was written in three weeks "in a burst of manic energy," following the death of Kusama's longtime close friend Joseph Cornell and her subsequent return to Tokyo and entrance into Seiwa Hospital for the Mentally Ill. Remarkably, the debut novel of Japan's greatest living artist was translated into French only in 2005, and to date no complete English version has been attempted. The text is a semi-autobiographical psychedelic vision of the artist's early years in New York City, illustrated with black and white reproductions of her dense, layered paintings and collages, full of quintessentially Kusama botanical, serpentine, lacelike, and polka-dot patterns reminiscent of her best-known and most popular work. The artist would revisit this period of her life in her much later autobiography INFINITY NET: "New York was in every way a fierce and violent place. I found it all extremely stressful and was soon mired in neurosis.[...] My hands are empty now, but I shall fill them with everything my heart desires, right here in New York." OCLC located just a single holding imn the US (though we're aware of a second), and a single other copy in Germany. Rare.

Read more: Kusama, Infinity Net: The Autobiography of Yayoi Kusama; Andrew Solomon, "Dot Dot Dot: The Lifework of Yayoi Kusama," Artforum.

The Object

First printing. (Tokyo): (Kowsakusha/Workshop + Forum International), (1978). 8.5'' x 7''. Original orange and silver wrappers. In original orange dust jacket. Black and white illustrations by Kusama, photography by Hikaru Sasaki. In Japanese with English headings. Polka-dot endpapers. Lacking original obi band. Mild sunning to spine. Pages a little toned. Small scuff to top corner of front cover. Else clean and sound.

The Fine Print

We work hard to meet our ethical responsibility to describe our material accurately. All items are guaranteed as described and may be returned for any reason within 30 days. Please notify us before mailing a return.

We guarantee the authenticity of our items. All materials are original (meaning not facsimiles or reproductions) unless otherwise noted. First editions (meaning first edition, first printing) are explicitly stated. TPM is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and upholds their Code of Ethics.

All photographs are of the actual item for sale. We're happy to provide additional images on request.

All domestic orders ship gratis. For orders under $250, free USPS media mail shipping is included; orders $250 and over ship USPS Ground Advantage. International orders over $1000 also ship gratis. Expedited, overnight, as well as other carriers (UPS, Fed-Ex, etc.), may carry additional costs beyond quoted rates. All orders receive tracking information and a direct contact in case of any questions.

International buyers are responsible for any customs, taxes, and related import fees. Please note that we are unable to accomodate requests to misrepresent, misdeclare, or otherwise falsify customs documents when shipping internationally. We appreciate your understanding.

We accept all major credit cards, Paypal, Venmo, check, money order, and bank wire. We are happy to bill institutional buyers' needs. Sales tax will be added to applicable purchases. Items subject to prior sale.

If for any reason you are dissatisfied with your purchase, please contact us. We prioritize our long-term relationships far above any individual purchase, and we want you to love your item as much as we loved cataloguing it.

Add to Cart Ask a Question Add to Wish List

More by Yayoi Kusama