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May 24, 2020

Vivian Gornick on Tolstoy, Emma Goldman, and more

A new reading list.

First published in the 1970s, Vivian Gornick’s The Romance of American Communism was rereleased last month after being unavailable for several years. In celebration, we’ve delved into our archive to bring you just a few of the essays Gornick has written for Boston Review over the past two decades—with more available online.

Perhaps most well-known for her skills as a memoirist, the essays in today’s reading list put her gift for profiles on display. From Hannah Arendt to H. G. Wells, and Camus to Colette, Gornick uncovers the inner lives of her subjects, peeling away the outer layers that readers may be more familiar with to instead reveal their innermost contradictions. 

Vivian Gornick

Simone de Beauvoir’s relationship with her readers was a mutually demanding collaboration.

Vivian Gornick

The “happily ever after” of marriage ruined the Tolstoys.

Vivian Gornick

The Lives of Erich Fromm.

Vivian Gornick
Edward Carpenter’s democracy of the soul.
Vivian Gornick

Phyllis Schlafly, Trump, and the terror of difference.

Vivian Gornick

The cause of Camus's native countrymen moved him, yet he yearned helplessly toward the European culture that had formed him.

Vivian Gornick

A rivalry to end the world.

Vivian Gornick, David V. Johnson

An interview with Vivian Gornick about the mother of anarchism.

Vivian Gornick

Hannah Arendt on being Jewish.

Vivian Gornick

The romantic obsessions of Colette, Simone de Beauvoir, and Marguerite Duras.

Vivian Gornick
Like many other writers of his time, H.G. Wells thought of himself as a Man of the Future, but his style of self-presentation remained Victorian.

Our weekly themed Reading Lists compile the best of Boston Review’s archive. Sign up for our newsletters to get them straight to your inbox before they appear online.

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