Alone! Alone!: Lives of Some Outsider Women (New York Review Books Collections)

Rating:
Summary: A long overdue collection
Review: While men who don't follow the beaten path have been celebrated and written about for some time now, it is rare that oddball women are given the same attention. Though the word 'outsider' may have negative connotations for some, it can also be used as another word for 'independent spirit'. All of the women written about in "Alone! Alone!" were certainly independent but suffered for it far more than they would have if they'd been born men. The book is highly readable and the author makes many interesting observations. My only criticism has do with the chapter on the painter Gwen John (whose self portrait appears on the cover), sister of the more well known painter Augustus John. Rather than delving more deeply into the life of Gwen, the author chooses for some reason to spend much of the essay on an analysis of her brother. (For more information on Gwen John, I'd suggest reading the biography recently published about her.) There are also several other 'outsider' women who might have been added to the book such as Canadian painter Emily Carr, British poet Charlotte Mew, New England trancendentalist Margaret Fuller, and German singer/songwriter Nico.
In any case, this book is a great introduction to some interesting, inspiring, and extraordinary lives!