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Heroines (2012)

by Kate Zambreno(Favorite Author)

4.63 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1584351144 (ISBN13: 9781584351146)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Semiotext(e)

review 1: It's rare I'll dish out a five-star rating, but this stunning memoir/biography of the silenced (abused, institutionalized, marginalized) modernist literary wives was such an eye-opener, and so honestly written, I can't give it fewer. Zambreno's raw delivery begins boldly and builds and builds. Thorough historical research and anecdotal asides about the experiences of Zelda Fitzgerald, Vivienne Eliot, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf (and many more) substantiate Zambreno's angry style as their stories unfold. The lack of a falsely imposed structure (chronological, say, or "one wife at a time")strengthens the conversational effect of the whole work. Certain lines repeat beautifully -- "Ring Lardner's quip: Mr. Fitzgerald is a novelist and Mrs. Fitzgerald is a novelty" -- for... more instance. Every page delivers an intense experience, and encouragement to writers to brave writing their own intensity of experience. By the end, Zambreno herself seems to have become an intelligent, impassioned and inspirational friend. Big impact. I'm thrilled it found its way to publication -- exactly as it reads. Big respect for Semiotext(e) and for this remarkable writer. I can't wait to check out her fiction.
review 2: The first half is literary who's who of 20th century modernism. It's a rush of ideas and references to novels, to theorists, to writers, to wives and to the modern crisis of the self. I loved reading it but I knew all of the references. If you did know the sometimes off hand references, I think the book would come off as pretentious. The manic pace from the first half of the novel slowed down in part two but as a result I thought it was much less interesting to read. less

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