Women of the Left Bank: Paris, 1900-1940

Rating:
Summary: Edifying & entertaining.
Review: I picked up this book out of interest in expatriate Americans in the early part of the 20th century. I was immediately drawn into the worlds of these writers and artists and ultimately learned about incredible characters like Sylvia Beach, who was the first person to publish James Joyce's Ulysses, and Margaret Anderson, publisher of the modernist The Little Review.

As a feminist scholar, Benstock analyzes the places these women occupied in the Paris scene as well as in a world in transition. She admirably examines the literary works of the writers, but the book never feels solely like a book of criticism. Biographical information abounds and gives each chapter something of a story arc.

For readers who enjoy biographies of literary personalities but often miss the lack of detailed discussion of a writer's works, this book will not disappoint. And if you are at all interested Paris in the early part of the last century, modernism, or any of the many women discussed in the book (Edith Wharton, Djuna Barnes, Gertrude Stein & Alice Toklas, HD, Mina Loy, etc.) this book will be an invaluable source of information.

Rating:
Summary: Staggering good...
Review: Not really a biography, tho it is very biographic. Not really a study of Feminism, tho most of the women were early pioneers. Not really a study of Lesbians, tho most of the women were, at least, bisexual. What this book does, and it does it extremely well, is illustrate how these women struggled to 'define' themselves, as artists, as authors, as sexual beings, as individuals at a time when women were generally perceived as little better then simple minded children factories. From Gertrude Stein to Djuna Barnes to Natalie Barney (Rene Vivian...'a life spent looking for death')such different people but sharing a common thread of struggle (and cost). I've read a lot about this period and these women, and no book has given me a better understanding of them and emotional empathy with them, then this book.

Rating:
Summary: A enjoyable book about a time I would have liked to share
Review: This book was a good introduction for me to read more about women who lived in Paris, but like so many, they went there to live a life ahead of their time.