The Promised Party: Kahlo, Basquiat and Me

(Paperback, Main)

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'Clement has lived a life like no other, and made of it a shimmering mosaic, a masterpiece, which is this book' Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less

Growing up in 1970s Mexico City, Jennifer Clement lived next door to Frida Kahlo's house. It was a bohemian childhood, living alongside artists, communists, revolutionaries and poets, which allowed an awakening of creative freedom and curiosity about the world.

Leaving behind Latin America for the burgeoning counter-culture scene in '80s New York, Clement inhabited the world of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Colette Lumiere and William Burroughs. Spanning two great cities, The Promised Party explores what it means to be young, free and alive.

Reviews

'Whether stashing her poems in a Basquiat-daubed fridge that later sells at Sotheby's or playing with Diego Rivera's granddaughter in Frida Kahlo's bathtub, [Clement's] memories are a perfect synthesis of clarity and mystery' - Observer

'Clement has lived a life like no other, and made of it a shimmering mosaic, a masterpiece, which is this book. With an artist's eye and a poet's pen, she has intimately detailed her journey between Mexico City and New York, along with all the magic and fame and ghosts and glitter of the age. Utterly spectacular on every page. I'm thunderstruck. Read it.' - ANDREW SEAN GREER, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of LESS

'[A] perfect time capsule told in fragments of intoxicating prose . . . As with [Widow Basquiat], Clement's account of New York's changing face is hugely compelling' - Skinny

'[An] illuminating memoir' - Harper's Bazaar

'Clement's vision of the world is like no other's. Beneath her gaze, the "real" is stripped bare to reveal the fantastic that exists in every breath of life. In her prose, the mundane explodes into flame. The Promised Party is a time capsule to all artists henceforth about what matters' - RICK BASS, author of WHY I CAME WEST

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Author Bio

Jennifer Clement is the President Emerita of PEN International and the only woman to be elected since the organisation was founded in 1921. She is the author of multiple books, including Widow Basquiat and Gun Love. Her books have been translated into more than forty languages around the world. Clement is also the
recipient of many awards including the Sara Curry Humanitarian Award, the Grand Prix des Lectrices Lycennes de Elle in France, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an NEA Fellowship, and her books have twice been a New York Times Editor's Choice.

jenniferclement.org