Passionate Minds: Women Rewriting the World
by Claudia Roth Pierpont
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Description
Biography & Autobiography. Sociology. Women's Studies. Nonfiction. HTML:With a masterful ability to connect their social contexts to well-chosen and telling details of their personal lives, Claudia Roth Pierpont gives us portraits of twelve amazingly diverse and influential literary women of the twentieth century, women who remade themselves and the world through their art.Gertrude Stein, Mae West, Margaret Mitchell, Eudora Welty, Ayn Rand, Doris Lessing, Anais Nin, Zora Neale Hurston, show more Marina Tsvetaeva, Hannah Arendt and Mary Mccarthy, and Olive Schreiner: Pierpont is clear-eyed in her examination of each member of this varied group, connectng her subjects firmly to the issues of sexual freedom, race, and politics that bound them to their times, even as she exposes the roots of their uniqueness.
"Pierpont['s] graceful essays are at once erudite and personal in their focus." ?The Boston Globe
"One of the most ceaselessly interesting books I've read in some time." ?Lorrie Moore, The New York Review.... show less
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Member Reviews
This was an impulse buy some years ago that has been gathering dust on a bookcase. I finally got around to reading it and I'm so glad I did, as it was terrific! The book consists of short biographies/essays on the literary contributions of a diverse group of 20th century women writers, including Gertrude Stein, Hannah Arendt, Anais Nin, Zora Neale Hurston, Doris Lessing, Ayn Rand and others. The essays were universally fascinating (Rand was less of a kook than I had thought, Margaret Mitchell, Arendt and Lessing were every but as problematic in their personal lives as Hemingway, Eliot and Pound) and I have added at least a dozen books to my list of things to read right now. The writing is sharp, it moves at a clip and no more than 30 show more pages are devoted to any one author (i.e. it's perfect for those of us who like a focused, cohesive discussion of an author's work rather than meaningless biographical details). Loved it. show less
One of the most fascinating books I've ever read. A heady mix of critical essay and biography -- these portraits of 12 extraordinary women writers -- thorns and all. A great book.
-- Michael
-- Michael
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Author Information
10+ Works 483 Members
Claudia Roth Pierpont, a contributor to The New Yorker since 1990, has received a Whiting Writer's Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She holds a Ph.D. in Italian Renaissance art history from New York University. She lives in New York City.
Awards and Honors
Awards
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Hannah Arendt; Gertrude Stein; Doris Lessing; Anaïs Nin; Zora Neale Hurston; Eudora Welty (show all 12); Marina Tsvetaeva; Mary McCarthy; Margaret Mitchell; Ayn Rand; Mae West; Olive Schreiner
Classifications
- Genres
- Literature Studies and Criticism, Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 810.9 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American literature in English History and criticism of American literature
- LCC
- PS151 .P54 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Women authors
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 198
- Popularity
- 164,753
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.96)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
