Mary McCarthy:
American novelist, satirist, critic, political activist, teacher and literary exectutor of the works of her close friend, Hannah Arendt.
A graduate of Vassar College, she was a vibrant member of intellectual New York City. Counted as part of the Partisan Review circle and as a contributor to The Nation, The New Republic, Harper's Magazine, and The New York Review of Books, McCarthy honed her reputation as a shrewd critic.
An award winning author, penning essays, articles and fiction, McCarthy is best known for her novel, 'TheGroup'. "Written with a trenchant, sardonic edge, The Group is a dazzlingly outspoken novel and a captivating look at the social history of America between two world wars." says Amazon.
Published in 1963 'The Group', it made it onto the New York Times Best Sellers List the same year and remained there for nearly two years, even though it came under much criticism for the topics that the characters dealt with and discussed. McCarthy's talent as a writer also came under attack, "Norman Mailer, a man whose own writing did not shy away from graphic depictions of the sexual act, dismissed The Group in the New York Review of Books as "a trivial lady writer's novel"
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/nov/29/the-group-mary-mccarthy
"The Group" tells the stories of 8 women who graduate from Vassar College in 1933 and how this group of intellectual women deal with the still limiting roles of women. "the Group" has influenced generations of women since it's publication (myself included). It has also influenced many women writers as shown below:
Its continuing relevance is one of the book's most extraordinary attributes. When Candace Bushnell was advised by an editor in the early 1990s to write "the modern-day version of The Group", she responded with Sex and the City, a collection of confessional essays about a group of female friends that spawned a multimillion-dollar TV series and film. "The Group reminds us that not much has really changed," writes Bushnell in the foreword to the new edition. "It's a book I prize, not only for its blistering satire, but for its technical elements, including McCarthy's brilliant use of the soliloquy, her pacing and razor-sharp descriptions."https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/nov/29/the-group-mary-mccarthy
I would recommend reading "The Group" if you can, or read anything by this woman wonder: Mary McCarthy
“We are the hero of our own story.” Mary McCarthy
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