Was She Pretty?

Author(s): Leanne Shapton

Gifts & Humour

Was She Pretty? is a beautiful exploration of modern love, relationships and jealousy from Leanne Shapton, the author of Swimming Studies and Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry. "A dreamy exploration of relationships and jealousy ...pithy and deadpan ...it's no self-help book". (Salon). In this singular exploration of modern love and all its demons, we learn how Martin still takes calls from his ex into another room; Lucy's ex only dated actresses; Steve's got him into S and Alec's ex-girlfriend had a thing for father figures. Through Leanne Shapton's beautifully illustrated snapshots of paranoia, jealousy and anxiety, Was She Pretty? explores the dangers of knowing about a lover's former lover, the discomfiting truths the exes can reveal about ourselves, and the secret hatred and admiration we can feel for those almost-strangers.


Product Information

Whenever I come across something of Leanne Shapton's - an illustration in The New York Times, or the wooden books she makes - I feel like I have found a hidden treasure -- Amy Sedaris The accessibility of Shapton's work is obvious...she blooms not only as an illustrator, but as an author Bookslut

Leanne Shapton is an artist, illustrator, and writer who was born in Toronto and lives in New York. She has contributed to The New York Times, Harper's Magazine, The New Yorker, Jane, Seventeen, Saturday Night, and Maclean's, among other publications. She is one of the founders of J&L Books, a non-profit publishing company specializing in new art and writing. She is the author of Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry.

General Fields

  • : 9781846144974
  • : Penguin Books Ltd
  • : Particular Books
  • : 0.197
  • : March 2013
  • : 198mm X 129mm X 15mm
  • : July 2013
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Leanne Shapton
  • : Paperback
  • : 1
  • : 306.73
  • : 208