My Life
Revised and Updated
11 June 2013
Description
A remarkable account of a wildly artistic life, finally restored to its unexpurgated form, with a revealing new introduction by Joan Acocella.
The visionary choreographer and dancer Isadora Duncan (1877–1927) not only revolutionized dance in the twentieth century but blazed a path for other visionaries who would follow in her wake. While many biographies have explored Duncan’s crucial role as one of the founders of modern dance, no other book has proved as critical—as both historical record and vivid evocation of a riveting life—as her autobiography. From her early enchantment with classical music and poetry to her great successes abroad, to her sensational love affairs and headline-grabbing personal tragedies, Duncan’s story is a dramatic one. My Life still stands alone as “a great document, revealing the truth of her life as she understood it, without reticence or apology or compromise” (New York Herald Tribune). Now, in this fully restored edition, with its risqué recollections and fervent idealism, My Life can be appreciated by a new generation.
Reviews
"Fascinating, even sensational reading." — New York Times
"Isadora was a wild
voluptuary, a true revolutionary. She flouted every tradition. . . . She alone
and unhelped changed the direction of her entire art." — Agnes de Mille
"For dance aficionados, Isadora Duncan's memoir My Life, with an introduction by Joan Acocella, completes the portrait of one of the twentieth century's most unforgettably Dionysian figures by restoring the bits originally deemed too spicy for print."
— Megan O’Grady, Vogue.com
"It is a splendid book, an inspiring book, doors and windows and eyes and arms wide open to the world." — Laura Jacobs, London Review of Books
"One of the great documents of early-20th-century bohemianism and radicalism… A welcome new edition of a classic." — Kirkus Reviews
