Preview of Dorothea Dreams Summary:

In Dorothea Dreams, Charnas explores an issue which is probably of considerable importance to her personally, the relationship between the successful artist and society and, more specifically, that between the successful female artist and social justice. The title character is a talented painter who, just as her career was beginning to take off, chose to flee the New York art world and live a hermitlike existence near Taos, New Mexico. For the last two years, unknown to anyone, she has been creating her masterpiece, a mixedmedia work literally glued to the face of a cliff. Dorothea has totally rejected the demands put upon her by both the artistic community and her daughter, who is active in feminist politics.

Meanwhile, in nearby Albuquerque, trouble is brewing in the barrio. Unprincipled land developers, with the local police in their pocket, are using underhanded tactics to buy...