lokroma reviewed Chasing Bright Medusas by Benjamin Taylor
Review of 'Chasing Bright Medusas' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I like this ambitious little book. It is an engaging biography that offers a surprisingly comprehensive portrait of Willa Cather in relatively few pages. Because of restrictions in her will, Willa Cather's letters were not published until 1913 when her executor died and her estate permitted their release. Taylor makes good use of his access to the letters in his story of this remarkable woman.
I didn't know much about Cather. I've read several of her books (Death Comes for the Archbishop is my hands down favorite--her evocation of the Southwest is breathtaking), but I don't think I really got how groundbreaking she was, and how much she achieved as a woman in a time when good female writers were scarce. She was tough and determined, knew what she wanted, and her work was appreciated by critics and readers almost from the start. Most of her books and stories …
I like this ambitious little book. It is an engaging biography that offers a surprisingly comprehensive portrait of Willa Cather in relatively few pages. Because of restrictions in her will, Willa Cather's letters were not published until 1913 when her executor died and her estate permitted their release. Taylor makes good use of his access to the letters in his story of this remarkable woman.
I didn't know much about Cather. I've read several of her books (Death Comes for the Archbishop is my hands down favorite--her evocation of the Southwest is breathtaking), but I don't think I really got how groundbreaking she was, and how much she achieved as a woman in a time when good female writers were scarce. She was tough and determined, knew what she wanted, and her work was appreciated by critics and readers almost from the start. Most of her books and stories were deeply sourced from her own experience, and the characters were often based on friends, neighbors, and family members, current and historical. Taylor reveals these connections precisely and intelligently and makes me want to read the rest of her work.
The biographical details of Cather's life are here, but the book is mostly about her work, what in her life generated it, and how it was received. It's an excellent introduction to Willa Cather and her work.