About this Book

Rarely if ever does the creative artist receive either the recognition or the recompense she deserves and needs. Lisa A. Miles brings this truism to vibrant life in This Fantastic Struggle, the biography of Esther Phillips. Born in Russia, raised in Pittsburgh by a family that denigrated her aristic identity, she left for Greenwich Village in the 1930s and never looked back. Despite early critical success, she was not able to make a living during the Depression and was institutionalized for six and a half years, likely for the results of starvation and stress. After her release, she returned her art to the Village, where her struggle continued. Eventually she lapsed into obscurity, but not before saying she had lived a wonderful life.