Writing Dangerously: Mary McCarthy And Her World
Brightman's massive biography ofMary McCarthypassionately and responsibly chronicles the many incarnations of "the first lady of letters." There's a lot to tell: McCarthy married four times, entertained many lovers, co-founded thePartisan 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 Dangerouslywon a 1992National Book Critics Circle Award.