It would be inaccurate to call Victoria Wilson's nearly 1,000-page biography A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 exhaustive. For one, it only covers the first thirty-three years of the actress's life, with fifty more to go. But more importantly, despite the repetitiveness, Wilson's take on Stanwyck's life and era is so commanding and delightful, …
HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM ME AND DELORES DEL RIO
My Face
My Face Once in a yoga class on Broadway my face fell off landing splat on my mat. I said hey everyone my face has fallen off see it there on my mat. But no one in child’s pose or downward facing dog noticed my face staring up at me from my mat.
THIS IS HOW I FEEL…
ON A GOOD DAY: AND THIS IS HOW I FEEL ON A BAD ONE:
HINDERED TO SUCCEED: THE GREAT AMERICAN SPINSTER POETESS MARIANNE MOORE: My November Bookslut Column
For most of their lives, Marianne Moore and her mother, Mary, slept in the same bed. Together with Moore's brother, Warner, the family had many nicknames for each other: two favorites were "Mole" for Mary and "Rat" for Moore. In referring to her daughter, Mary usually used a masculine pronoun. Linda Leavell's new biography, Holding …
HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2013 FROM ME AND VERONCIA LAKE
THIS IS HOW I FEEL…
ON A GOOD DAY: AND THIS IS HOW I FEEL ON A BAD ONE:
On Being Scottish
"Some people think, absurdly enough, that to be Scotch or descended from the Scottish clans is to be rather strong, rather conservative, firm in faith, and all that. The idea is one that should be completely exploded by this time. I think that the Scotch as a nation are the most difficult of all to …
The Whole Thing
I had the whole little thing worked out about who I am but I was wrong and now what do I do?
WHAT IS LOST: JANE FRANKLIN AND THE GREAT MAN SYNDROME: My October Column at Bookslut
"I know the most Insignificant creature on Earth may be made some Use of in the Scale of Beings, may Touch some Spring, or Verge to some wheel unpercived by us." --Jane Franklin, In a Letter to her Brother, 1786 "One Half of the World does not know how the other Half lives." --Benjamin Franklin, …
Jenny McPhee 