This Fantastic Struggle
Marketing Information

AUDIENCE

• Those interested in:   Art, Mental Illness, Women’s Issues, Biography, Cultural Studies, Humanities, the Literary Tradition, Greenwich Village, Abstract Expressionism, FDR’s WPA Programs, Work-Life Philosophies, Social Policy and Self-Improvement
• Educators, Civic Leaders
• Librarians, Archivists
• Historians
• Therapists

SALES POINTS

• Uniquely woven together with scholarly source material,“interviews of aging bohemians,” mental institution documents, reproduced graphics from 1920s reviews and hand-scrawled letters, & a beautiful color-plate middle gallery of Esther’s paintings
• Both a colorful Biography & relevant Cultural Essay
• A fascinating story & absorbing limpse at what it really means to be an artist
• A heartwarming story of friendship sustained by the power of a now-extinct literary tradition– keeping alive not just friends over distance & illness, but art work otherwise lost to the world
• A creatively-layered design of a life, and life-affirming tale of a woman who lived poor but died saying hers was the most wonderful possible life– prompting all to better understand their own passions and self-direction

AUTHOR BIO

The professional background of Lisa A. Miles is a blend of the literary, the arts, independent historical scholarship, the humanities, teaching and public speaking. Her website details her credentials of twenty years in the above fields, including grants national, statewide and locally (www.lisamilesviolin.com). This Fantastic Struggle:  The Life & Art of Esther Phillips was originally released in western PA in 2002, and was a regional bestseller. Lisa is also a musician who composes and performs original material on violin and mandolin, often in collaboration with dance, theatre, film and visual artists.