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annitikkala's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
isaarusilor's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
conorsweetman's review against another edition
4.0
Reveals the miracles that are required for a biography to be born into the world.
whathannareads's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
I delightful autumn read that made me happy to realize how far we‘ve come for women in the work place since the 70s (even though there‘s still quite a way to go!)
I delightful autumn read that made me happy to realize how far we‘ve come for women in the work place since the 70s (even though there‘s still quite a way to go!)
momey's review against another edition
5.0
i really liked this. i enjoy books about a writer's process and i was also very interested in the details of the interactions between the author, Beckett and Beauvoir. I think I'm going to read the author's bio of Beauvoir if our library ever fully reopens and in the meantime I'm going to reread de Beauvoir's memoirs. I have been meaning to do this anyway since my mother died. Also there is the new translation of The Second Sex which has been on my list for some time. That has to wait for the university lib to get back to normal though so god knows when that will be.
bkish's review against another edition
5.0
What an extraordinary book !!
Dr Blair (PhD in literature from Columbia U) wrote this in 2017-2018 in her 80s about period of time in 70s and 80s when she became by choice a biographer beginning with the first ever bio of Samuel Beckett and then moving on to a bio of Simone deBeauvoir both writers both elderly then and both in Paris. At the time tho she was a wife and a mother. It was also a time early for women as professionals and for women to have families and education and a profession. She also was trying to finance the venture of writing this Biography of the great writer Beckett who lived in Paris. She however lived with her family in Connecticut USA.
Everything this writer biographer did was to manage all of her lives while becoming a biographer in 1970s.
I expect this will b an annoying book for many as it is all laid out all that was involved in making these biographies with lot of detail.
All of this was going on as she was also a wife and a mother of two. To do these biographies of non americans as an american she had to travel few times a year to Paris and Dublin and London. there were meetings with the subjects Samuel Beckett and then Simone debeauvoir and many people people for her to interview in Europe and a few in US
While working on the SdB biography Simone died.
This book Parisian Lives was written by Bair 2017-8 and during that time she had a very bad fall and recovery..
To read this book is a joyful experience...
Judy g
Dr Blair (PhD in literature from Columbia U) wrote this in 2017-2018 in her 80s about period of time in 70s and 80s when she became by choice a biographer beginning with the first ever bio of Samuel Beckett and then moving on to a bio of Simone deBeauvoir both writers both elderly then and both in Paris. At the time tho she was a wife and a mother. It was also a time early for women as professionals and for women to have families and education and a profession. She also was trying to finance the venture of writing this Biography of the great writer Beckett who lived in Paris. She however lived with her family in Connecticut USA.
Everything this writer biographer did was to manage all of her lives while becoming a biographer in 1970s.
I expect this will b an annoying book for many as it is all laid out all that was involved in making these biographies with lot of detail.
All of this was going on as she was also a wife and a mother of two. To do these biographies of non americans as an american she had to travel few times a year to Paris and Dublin and London. there were meetings with the subjects Samuel Beckett and then Simone debeauvoir and many people people for her to interview in Europe and a few in US
While working on the SdB biography Simone died.
This book Parisian Lives was written by Bair 2017-8 and during that time she had a very bad fall and recovery..
To read this book is a joyful experience...
Judy g
kate_hammer's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
I didn’t imagine relishing this, since I don’t know this biographer’s work. I read in a day and a half while on holiday in Paris. I was drawn into the author’s experience and the questions this “bio-memoir” raised about the truth of a life. She holds the standard that a literary biography succeeds when readers want to read more of the works by the subject and learn more about their social period, and I certainly want to read both the biographies of Beckett and de Beauvoir, and in that order.
ronanmcd's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
2.5
I'm being harsh on this book, because it's two books. It's a long, drawn out list of who the author spoke to and when over the course of two decades and writing two books. And it's a second book in there, amidst the lines of the first; a gripping story of a woman breaking boundaries, during a time of women doing so more broadly.
It's the memoir of a writer. One who tries to be as cold, collected and objective as possible. And yet, she tells us that she took Beckett's advice to her and followed it closely; "You must never explain. You must never complain". But explanation and complaint is what this book is all about.
Later, having spoken so much on feminism and equality throughout, Bair is aggrieved that on her board of assessors for her professorship the women didn't vote in her favour, as a block. She feels let down that she was voted on by these women for merit, and not just approved as an allegiance.
"What depressed me most about this so-called review was that of the seven negative votes, four had been cast by women. So much for sisterhood".
It's the memoir of a writer. One who tries to be as cold, collected and objective as possible. And yet, she tells us that she took Beckett's advice to her and followed it closely; "You must never explain. You must never complain". But explanation and complaint is what this book is all about.
Later, having spoken so much on feminism and equality throughout, Bair is aggrieved that on her board of assessors for her professorship the women didn't vote in her favour, as a block. She feels let down that she was voted on by these women for merit, and not just approved as an allegiance.
"What depressed me most about this so-called review was that of the seven negative votes, four had been cast by women. So much for sisterhood".
kfabs7's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0