A Portrait of the Author as a Prostitute Isaac Bashevis Singer's Yarmy and Keila as Autobiographical Fiction

One of the modes of life writing is embodied in the dismantlement of the "self" with no aspiration toward coherence. This article argues that Isaac Bashevis Singer's novel Yarmy and Keila exemplifies such a mode of life writing. It is a portrait of the author as a heretic son of a rabbi, as a pimp, and as a prostitute. The characterization of this novel as a special type of autobiographical fiction also suggests a key for interpreting it and for placing it both within Bashevis Singer's canon and in the context of post-World War II experimental life writing.