Christine Coulson – författare

MARIE CLAIRE BEST BOOKS OF 2023‘Thrilling…the experimental format carries an enjoyable tale impressively’ Times Literary Supplement‘Spry, compulsive, unexpectedly profound’ ObserverA novel like no other - remarkably told through museum wall labels - about a twentieth-century woman who transforms herself from a precious object into an unforgettable protagonistPrized, collected, critiqued. One Woman Show revolves around the life of Kitty Whitaker as she is defined by her potential for display and moved from collection to collection through multiple marriages. Christine Coulson, who has written hundreds of exhibition wall labels for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, precisely distils each stage of Kitty's sprawling life into that distinct format, every brief snapshot in time a wry reflection on womanhood, ownership, value and power.Described with wit, poignancy and humour over the course of the twentieth century, Kitty emerges as an eccentric heroine who disrupts her privileged, porcelain life with both major force and minor transgressions. As human foibles propel each delicately crafted text, Coulson playfully asks: who really gets to tell our stories?'Heartbreaking and funny . . . truly masterful and patient and insane, in the best way' Leanne Shapton'Wry, humorous, poignant' Spectator

MARIE CLAIRE BEST BOOKS OF 2023'Funny, clever and unexpectedly profound - I couldn't put it down' Helena Attlee'It is remarkable how much information she can convey about Kitty’s life . . . solely using wall labels' IndependentPrized, collected, critiqued. One Woman Show revolves around the life of Kitty Whitaker as she is defined by her potential for display and moved from collection to collection through multiple marriages. Christine Coulson, who has written hundreds of exhibition wall labels for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, precisely distils each stage of Kitty's sprawling life into that distinct format, every brief snapshot in time a wry reflection on womanhood, ownership, value and power.Described with wit, poignancy and humour over the course of the twentieth century, Kitty emerges as an eccentric heroine who disrupts her privileged, porcelain life with both major force and minor transgressions. As human foibles propel each delicately crafted text, Coulson playfully asks: who really gets to tell our stories?'Heartbreaking and funny . . . truly masterful and patient and insane, in the best way' Leanne Shapton'Wry, humorous, poignant' Spectator

From an insider who has worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for more than twenty years, an enchanting novel that exposes through the lens of magical realism a world the public doesn''t see.Hidden behind the Picassos and Vermeers, the Temple of Dendur and the American Wing, exists another world: the hallways and offices, conservation studios, storerooms, and cafeteria that are home to the museum''s devoted and peculiar staff of 2,200 people--along with a few ghosts.A surreal love letter to this private side of the Met, Metropolitan Stories unfolds in a series of amusing and poignant vignettes in which we discover larger-than-life characters, the downside of survival, and the powerful voices of the art itself. The result is a novel bursting with magic, humor, and energetic detail, but also a beautiful book about introspection, an ode to lives lived for art, ultimately building a powerful collage of human experience and the world of the imagination.

A “modern masterwork” (NPR)—remarkably told through museum wall labels—about a 20th-century woman who transforms herself from a precious object into an unforgettable protagonist.Author Christine Coulson spent twenty-five years writing for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her final project was to write wall labels for the museum’s new British Galleries. During that time, she dreamt of using The Met’s strict label format to describe people as intricate works of art. The result is this “jewel box of a novel” (Kirkus Reviews) that imagines a privileged 20th-century woman as an artifact—an object prized, collected, and critiqued. One Woman Show revolves around the life of Kitty Whitaker as she is defined by her potential for display and moved from collection to collection through multiple marriages. Coulson precisely distills each stage of this sprawling life, every brief snapshot in time a wry reflection on womanhood, ownership, value, and power. “A moving story of privilege, womanhood, and the sweep of the 20th century told through a single American life” (Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind), Kitty is an eccentric heroine who disrupts her porcelain life with both major force and minor transgressions. Described with poignancy and humor, Coulson’s playful reversal on our interaction with art ultimately questions who really gets to tell our stories.

MARIE CLAIRE BEST BOOKS OF 2023‘Thrilling…the experimental format carries an enjoyable tale impressively’ Times Literary Supplement‘Spry, compulsive, unexpectedly profound’ ObserverA novel like no other - remarkably told through museum wall labels - about a twentieth-century woman who transforms herself from a precious object into an unforgettable protagonistPrized, collected, critiqued. One Woman Show revolves around the life of Kitty Whitaker as she is defined by her potential for display and moved from collection to collection through multiple marriages. Christine Coulson, who has written hundreds of exhibition wall labels for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, precisely distils each stage of Kitty's sprawling life into that distinct format, every brief snapshot in time a wry reflection on womanhood, ownership, value and power.Described with wit, poignancy and humour over the course of the twentieth century, Kitty emerges as an eccentric heroine who disrupts her privileged, porcelain life with both major force and minor transgressions. As human foibles propel each delicately crafted text, Coulson playfully asks: who really gets to tell our stories?'Heartbreaking and funny . . . truly masterful and patient and insane, in the best way' Leanne Shapton'Wry, humorous, poignant' Spectator