(6/8/12) The Barbizon Hotel for Women in New York City plays a prominent role in
Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar." Her protagonist spends the summer of
1953 in the legendary old monstrosity while struggling through a
fashion-magazine internship, just as Plath did. Three years before her
iconic, semi-autobiographical novel was published in the U.S., I came to
New York for a summer job with a Madison Avenue advertising agency, and
I stayed at the 23-story, 700-room Barbizon as well. I was 18 years
old.
Each night, I hauled my bedspread and pillow up 15 flights of stairs to the roof. I did it for the magic -- for the sheer joy and beauty of lying there, surrounded by glittering skyscrapers and that pulsing urban dynamism that floated up from the street. Imagine having this place you'd always dreamed of, soaring majestically all around you as you slept.
Each night, I hauled my bedspread and pillow up 15 flights of stairs to the roof. I did it for the magic -- for the sheer joy and beauty of lying there, surrounded by glittering skyscrapers and that pulsing urban dynamism that floated up from the street. Imagine having this place you'd always dreamed of, soaring majestically all around you as you slept.