Kavan, Anna. I Am Lazarus. London. 1945. Jonathan Cape. 146 pages. hardcover.  

FROM THE PUBLISHER -

Short stories addressing the surreal realities of mental illness, from an incredible cult writer often compared to Kafka and Woolf. The tortured life of Anna Kavan brought her some reward in terms of great pieces of art. Her drug addiction bore fruit in the Julia and the Bazooka collection of stories; while this companion volume recalls her experience of the asylum—powerful, haunting works which can be harrowing but are full of sympathy too.

Anna Kavan (1901–1968) was a novelist, short story writer, and painter. Her works include Asylum Piece, Ice, and Sleep Has His House. She has been often compared to Djuna Barnes, Franz Kafka, Anaïs Nin, and Virginia Woolf. She was a long-term heroin addict and suffered periodic bouts of mental illness, and these facets of her life feature prominently in her novels and short stories.