Widow Basquiat

"Jennifer Clement uses lyrical vignettes to tell the fraught story of a close friend, Suzanne Mallouk, better known to New York City’s 1980s art world as the last woman Jean-Michel Basquiat loved. The tragic spectacle of Basquiat’s life and art has become so notorious, it’s somewhat difficult to remember he was an actual human being. Clement restores both his humanity — hurt and hurtful, brilliant and blazing — and, just as crucially, pulls Mallouk out of the art scene’s shadows and into the light. To say that this is the most compelling book you’ll ever encounter about Basquiat is just the beginning of the praise Clement deserves."

"Widow Basquiat, by Jennifer Clement, is beautiful and no one seems to know it when I bring it up."