description: Brightman's massive biography of Mary McCarthy passionately and responsibly chronicles the many incarnations of "the first lady of letters." There's a lot to McCarthy married four times, entertained many lovers, co-founded the Partisan Review , opposed World War II and penned 16 novels, several memoirs and hundreds of letters, articles, essays and reviews during her 79 years. Brightman richly details McCarthy's ascension from a battered foster child to a celebrated member of the New York literary and intellectual elite. For McCarthy, Brightman writes, language was "an instrument of conquest ... a medium for the refinement of perception." Writing Dangerously won a 1992 National Book Critics Circle Award.
language: English
title: Writing Dangerously
titlecomplete: Writing Dangerously
genres: Biography, History, American, Nonfiction, Female Authors
ratings_count: 41
awards: awardedAt: 694252800000
name: National Book Critics Circle Award
category: Biography/Autobiography
publisher: Random House Value Publishing