In Transit - (Essentials) by Brigid Brophy (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A gender-bending satire from one of Ireland's most brilliant and outspoken writers, as fresh and thought-provoking today as it was on its original publication in 1969.

Set in an airport lounge, In Transit follows contemporary traveler Evelyn Hillary O'Rooley who has "lost" his/her gender, prompting him/her to perform a series of unsuccessful, yet bizarrely hilarious, philosophical and anatomical tests to rediscover it. Divided into four symphony sections, Brigid Brophy surrounds this simple plot device with an endless stream of puns, allusions, and experiments with narrative consciousness, as our protagonist finds him-/herself in a situation quite similar to a modern Orlando.

Widely considered the novel which catapulted Brophy to renown as a postmodern writer, In Transit is a textual labyrinth--littered with word games, metafictional events, and surreal encounters that challenge readers' preconceived notions of gender, identity, and reality. With a new introduction by Katherine Packert Burke, Dalkey Archive Press is thrilled to reintroduce Brophy's relentlessly clever and prescient masterpiece to contemporary readers.

About the Author

Brigid Brophy (1929-1995) was an Irish-English author, literary critic, essayist, and polemicist. Born in London to writer John Brophy, Brophy studied Classics at St. Hugh's College, and was influenced by writers such as George Bernard Shaw, Evelyn Waugh, and Sigmund Freud. Alongside writing, Brophy was an avid activist who championed several types of social reform, including vegetarianism, humanism, and animal rights. She was a staunch feminist and pacifist, writing columns opposing the Vietnam War and openly rejecting sexual orthodoxy along with her partner, art historian Michael Levey.

Katherine Packert Burke is the author of two novels, All Us Saints and Still Life. She lives in Minneapolis, MN.