Joseph Glasco (1925-1996) enjoyed early success but refused to play by the rules of an increasingly market-dominated New York art world. In the 1950s he and his then partner, the novelist William Goyen, escaped to Taos, where Glasco was befriended by Frieda Lawrence Ravagli, the widow of D. H. Lawrence. Glasco later lived in Europe, then finally settled in Texas. His charm and intelligence won him many friends: as a young man he became close to Jackson Pollock, and he later encouraged the artists Julian Schnabel and George Condo. This book traces the course of Glasco's life and art and explores the complex reasons for his subsequent neglect.

The book will appeal to all those interested in modern American art and in the trials of maintaining status in New York's art scene.