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'Realms of the Unreal': Henry Darger's Secret Life

For much of his life, Henry Darger was almost invisible. He was an odd man -- a reclusive janitor whose outside life revolved around going to church and monitoring the weather. But in death, Darger has become well known and honored, inspiring books, a musical and now, a documentary.

A talented and troubled artist, Darger used large paintings and a 15,000 page epic novel titled The Realms of the Unreal to create a secret mystical world of heroic little girls fighting evil. Filmmaker Jessica Yu's new film about Darger has the same name. She talks with NPR's Jennifer Ludden about the documentary.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.