Mary MacLane's "I Await the Devil's Coming" is a shocking, brave and intellectua
lly challenging diary of a 19-year-old girl living in Butte, Montana in 1902. Wr
itten in potent, raw prose that propelled the author to celebrity upon publicati
on, the book has become almost completely forgotten.
In the early 20th century
, MacLane's name was synonymous with sexuality; she is widely hailed as being on
e of the earliest American feminist authors, and critics at the time praised her
work for its daringly open and confessional style. In its first month of public
ation, the book sold 100,000 copies -- a remarkable number for a debut author, a
nd one that illustrates MacLane's broad appeal.
Now, with a new foreward writt
en by critic Jessa Crispin, "I Await The Devil's Coming" stands poised to renew
its reputation as one of America's earliest and most powerful accounts of femini
st thought and creativity.
