Feminism Inside Out

Feminism Inside Out

by | Dec 12, 2021

Still Mad: American Women Writers and the Feminist Imagination by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar. W. W. Norton, 2021. Hardcover, 464 pages, $28. Reviewed by Carl Rollyson The title of the work under review hearkens back to The Mad Woman in the Attic: The Woman...
Joseph Kennedy, American Fascist

Joseph Kennedy, American Fascist

by | Nov 7, 2021

The Ambassador: Joseph P. Kennedy at the Court of St. James 1938–1940 by Susan Ronald. St. Martin’s Press, 2021. Hardcover, 464 pages, $30. Reviewed by Carl Rollyson In this meticulous, relentless biography, Joseph P. Kennedy is now firmly established in the annals of...
After Such Knowledge

After Such Knowledge

by | Apr 11, 2021

Sergeant Salinger: A Novel by Jerome Charyn. Bellevue Literary Press, 2021. Hardcover, 288 pages, $28.50. Reviewed by Carl E. Rollyson Biographical novels trouble certain readers. What is true? What is made up? Why isn’t biography enough? Why not just read Salinger,...
A Plutarchian Life of Brown and Lincoln

A Plutarchian Life of Brown and Lincoln

by | Oct 25, 2020

The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom by H. W. Brands. Doubleday, 2020. Hardcover, 464 pages, $30. Reviewed by Carl Rollyson H. W. Brands has written perhaps his most fluent book, a constantly engaging study...
Placing Chaucer

Placing Chaucer

by | Jun 30, 2019

Chaucer: A European Life by Marion Turner. Princeton University Press, 2019. Hardcover, 624 pages, $40. Reviewed by Carl Rollyson We know so little about Shakespeare’s life. The facts could be put onto no more than a page. That has not prevented biographers from...