I've been having trouble lately with novels. I always have a few short fiction collections on the go - endless riches - but the last three novels I have tried to read, I have not been able to finish.
Apart from short fiction collections, the books I have truly enjoyed in the last year have been non-fiction titles. And the one I enjoyed the absolute most was Angela Bourke's biography of the Irish writer Maeve Brennan.
I had read Maeve's short fiction and wasn't completely blown away by it, but I loved her collected pieces from the New Yorker, The Long Winded Lady. I even got a scene for a story from one image she painted in that book. She really could write.
And she lived. Not always an easy life but a fascinating one; she had a sparkling intelligence and Angela Bourke does her wonderful justice in this bio.
But don't just believe me - go and read it yourself.
2 comments:
I loved this book too, which I read a couple of years ago. I hadn't read Brennan's fiction before but went out and bought 'The Springs of my Affection' after reading about her life. I like her stories although I've a feeling they may not be in vogue these days.
The stories were great character studies but, as stories, I found them too old-fashioned in a rambly sort of way. I would have loved stories set in her New York life. But I guess she was writing about what moved and haunted her and home was that thing. All in all a fascinating woman.
Thanks for your comment, Oslo.
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