Jill Di Donato

Beautiful Garbage: A Novel Jill Di Donato

If Holly Golightly lived in the '80s, how far would she go to make a name for herself as Manhattan's artist du jour? We know all about Warhol, Basquiat, Keith Haring, and their fictional counterparts, but what about the edgy women artists of this time? Jodi Plum: smart, talented, ambitious, troubled. Fresh out of her teens, she leaves suburbia for Manhattan's glam and gritty art scene, and almost immediately falls into the clutches of Monika, a beautiful photographer. With the help of her new mentor, Jodi quickly becomes a rising star - but when a skeleton from her past surfaces, her dream life crashes to a halt, and she slips into a world of parties, drugs, and high-class prostitution.   Set in the crime-plagued New York City of the 1980s, Beautiful Garbage parallels an artist's journey with her sexual epiphanies, exploring the notorious milieu of the decade's downtown art scene from the point of view of a young female artist - and offering a satirical and irreverent look at post-'70s sexual politics and the world of elite call girls.   

 Reviews & Endorsements
"In this novel, Di Donato focuses on the female perspective, as well as the inextricable link between art, business, and sexuality. The author has ably captured a moment in time." - Publishers Weekly 

"From art whore to call girl and beyond, Jodi Plum is either a feminist's nightmare or a true artist. She may drive you crazy (or break your heart), but you won't forget the novel in which she stars. In the end, novel and protagonist - think Becky Sharpe with a Vassar degree, or Sister Carrie in 1980s Soho - transcend their limits to celebrate what endures." - Beth Bosworth, author of The Source of Life and Other Stories 

"Beautiful, yes. Garbage, no. Just a captivating story of art, women, friendship, drugs,and self-destruction set against the glittery backdrop of a vanished Manhattan." - Elisa Albert, author of The Book of Dahlia

"Equal parts Patti Smith's Just Kids and The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Jill Di Donato's Beautiful Garbage is a voyeuristic panorama of the vice and vanity of the downtown art scene in the 1980s. Di Donato has given the world a new story, both titillating and touching, to add to the New York canon." - Ivy Pochoda, author of Visitation Street  

"An alluring tale of New York nightlife and its seedy characters." - Cat Marnell, VICE columnist