1966. Sui banchi di una prima liceo si incontrano Anna, povera e timida, e Giulia, bella, esuberante, ricca. Tra loro nasce una strana amicizia, che sorprende e indispettisce le altre compagne. Le due ragazze non hanno niente in comune, tuttavia qualcosa le spinge l'una verso l'altra. Forse proprio la disuguaglianza che esiste tra loro le porta a scivolare progressivamente verso un rapporto sempre più esclusivo e intimo; ma non equilibrato. Anna è l'adoratrice, Giulia la dea; Anna la schiava, Giulia la padrona. Attratte da un gioco che diventa sempre più teso e perverso, le due giovani donne si avvolgono in un vortice erotico che ne proietta i corpi e la mente in una dimensione inesplorata per entrambe. Ne usciranno, ma ciascuna in modo diverso. Ambientato in un'epoca nella quale gli attuali livelli di consapevolezza e autoconsapevolezza sessuale erano lontani, questo romanzo ci guida in un viaggio che tocca due estremi della psicologia femminile, entrambi caratterizzati, contemporaneamente, da innocenza e da una carica erotica prorompente.

An American sculptor, painter, and installation artist, Paul Thek (1933--1988) is primarily known for hyper-realistic works of human body parts executed in fleshlike beeswax and for his strongly symbolic, room-size installations constructed from transitory materials. A major figure on the 1960s New York art scene, Thek also spent time in Europe, where he paved the way for artists adopting collaborative strategies. Although he gained a large following and was featured in more than one hundred solo and group exhibitions, the anti-establishment “artist's artist” was practically forgotten at the time of his death.

Major exhibitions abroad and critical attention from younger artists have done much to revive his reputation, and Paul Thek: Diver expands on those efforts by bringing the artist's resounding influence on the art world up to date. Published to accompany Thek's first retrospective in the United States, this landmark publication includes nearly 300 chronologically arranged illustrations of sculptures, paintings, prints, and other works featured in the exhibition as well as four special “in-depth” image sections focusing on key installations, projects, and pages from the artist's journals.  An extensive selection of documentary photographs, many never before published, illuminate Thek's artistic aesthetic and production process. With a bibliography, exhibition history, and checklist of works in the exhibition, this overdue acknowledgment of Thek's brief, but broad-reaching career will be the authoritative volume on the artist for years to come.