First published 1994
Marguerite Young, acclaimed author of the 1200-page novel Miss MacIntosh, My Darling, presents her collected shorter works spanning decades of literary exploration. This gathering includes three short stories alongside essays and reviews that roam freely across subjects close to Young's heart. She writes about the Midwest where she came of age, examining its landscapes and people with both affection and clear eyes. Her pieces celebrate writers she admires while exploring the mysteries of the writing process itself. Young turns her attention to unexpected subjects like dolls and horses, to communities of deaf people and Mormon settlers (she descends from Brigham Young himself). Throughout these varied pieces, she champions the power of imagination in human experience. Her prose combines refined elegance with playful humor, mixing profound insights with lighter observations. Young alternates between celebrating life's strange diversity and expressing frustration with those who fail to see its richness. The collection reveals an author who seeks complex connections between seemingly unrelated experiences, always avoiding the ordinary in favor of deeper unities that bind different aspects of human activity.
Genres: essays, literary-fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: celebration-of-life, exploration-of-themes
Setting: Midwest, Mormon Settlements
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
246 pages · Hardcover · Dalkey Archive Press