Iron John – A Book About Men [Signed & inscribed / Library of Jill Johnston]

First Edition, 1/4 cloth boards, 268 pages. This copy is SIGNED by Bly & INSCRIBED to Jill Johnston thus: For Jill Ah yes, on the way to [the?] fatherless society! carrying on our shoulders a great need for the (guiding)father — a [unreadable…see image] Robert 1 May ’91. Johnston (1929-2010) was a cultural, literary and dance critic, memoirist, radical lesbian feminist and champion of the avant-garde, and the book bears her distinctive blue ink-stamp on the title page which reads “Write first. then live.” J.J. We can be fairly certain that the inscription was made on the occasion of Johnston’s 1991 visit to Bly’s Minnesota farm where the critic went to investigate the Iron John phenomenon. While the two got on well, Bly couldn’t have known that Johnston would bring the then burgeoning “men’s movement” under intense scrutiny & call it’s intentions nothing new, but rather a continuation of patriarchal norms. See “Why Iron John is No Gift to Women, NY Times, 23 February 1992. Boards are VG-, having rubbing & some discoloration. Pages have Johnston’s underlining and notes both toward the front & in margins. The dust-jacket’s in sorry shape — read poor condition – heavily chipped and chewed & with Johnston’s scotch-taped attempts to keep it all together both front and rear. Further images upon request.