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The Lady Who Liked Clean Rest Rooms

By J.P. Donleavey
Illustrated by Elliott Banfield

1995
Black morocco and latticed paste paper -- Out of Print

From the creator of The Ginger Man, Thornwillow Press proudly presents its first publication of a new work of fiction — The Lady Who Liked Clean Rest Rooms by J.P. Donleavy.

Uncensored and Pure Donleavy:

The Lady Who Liked Clean Rest Rooms is the first work of fiction to be published by Thornwillow. It was created by an artist who forty years ago caused a major happening in the world of literature and who continues to shock, to entertain and to ruffle feathers with a command of the language that has always been uniquely his own. Once again he takes us on an amazing journey with this new and remarkable novella. In The Lady Who Liked Clean Rest Rooms, J.P. Don-leavy tells us a tale “rumoured about around New York.” It is a brilliant comic/tragic tale that demonstrates the ability of the author to climb inside the mind and heart of a woman, a woman who represents a lost generation of women who — educated, cultured, and unprepared for financial and independent responsibilities — are unable to cope with liberation and ultimately become victims of those who sense their vulnerability to exploitation, men even more desperate than they are. It is a funny tale and a sad one and in its magical way it presents a portrait of the nobility and grit of those who expect the best of everyone only to experience the worst.

Is it a true story? the author has this to say:

You think you imagine things, and sometimes hope you do but you don’t really imagine anything completely at all. If you stop and really look into something you think you’ve imagined, you’ll find that it comes out of your life or happened somewhere, sometime. For example, you might describe the hallway of a building or a girl, and think it’s imagined, but if you cast your mind back you’ll find you saw that hallway or that girl somewhere.

A word of warning. This is Donleavy at his best —witty, biting, decidedly scatological, eccentrically punctuated, but powerful and seething and inspiring.

The Edition

Each copy is hand-bound in moroccan goatskin and specially designed handmade pastepapers, has hand-sewn headbands, and is stitched over cords. The text is printed letterpress on paper handmade for this edition at The Cardinal Mill and is accompanied by eight original illustrations by Elliott Banfield. The book is presented in a velvet-lined traycase. The edition is limited to 175 copies. Each volume is numbered and signed by the author and the artist.