Bread and a Sword

by Evelyn Scott

From Kirkus -

This is part of a trilogy on the artist and the creative problem, begun in Eva Gay -- a trilogy in thought, not in story or character. Here the artist comes up against the bald facts of the depression, and economic pressure wrecks all chance for marital happiness. Told in stream of consciousness manner, with definite formula of interpolation, parenthesis, italics, capitalization, etc. to indicate thought and emotion levels. Not easy reading, but a worthwhile theme, skillfully handled. Evelyn Scott has a definite following -- go after them.

468 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

Evelyn Scott was an American novelist, playwright and poet. A modernist and experimental writer, Scott "was a significant literary figure in the 1920s and 1930s, but she eventually sank into critical oblivion.

Reviews

[Jonathan]

Sadly gave up on this after about 150 pages - some very interesting stuff going on (italics for thoughts, bracketed italics for unconscious thoughts) but the whole thing just fell flat for me - her point about the negative impact of commerce on art is not particularly groundbreaking, and her characters a little one dimensional - maybe I will give it another go some other time.

If you find it in your library, or cheap in some second hand bookstore, I would totally recommend giving it a go