"A biography wholly worthy of the brilliant woman it chronicles. . . . It rediscovers Virginia Woolf afresh." The Philadelphia Inquirer
While Virginia Woolfone of our century's most brilliant and mercurial writershas had no shortage of biographers, none has seemed as naturally suited to the task as Hermione Lee. Subscribing to Virginia Woolf's own belief in the fluidity and elusiveness of identity, Lee comes at her subject from a multitude of perspectives, producing a richly layered portrait of the writer and the woman that leaves all of her complexities and contradictions intact. Such issues as sexual abuse, mental illness, and suicide are brought into balance with the immensity of her literary achievement, her heroic commitment to her work, her generosity and wit, and her sanity and strength.
It is not often that biography offers the satisfactions of great fictionbut this is clearly what Hermione Lee has achieved. Accessible, intelligent, and deeply pleasurable to read, her Virginia Woolf will undoubtedly take its place as the standard biography for years to come.
"One of the most impressive biographies of the decade: moving, eloquent, powerful as both literary and social history."
Financial Times
"The most distinguished study of Woolf yet." The New Republic
"A biography wholly worthy of the brilliant woman it chronicles. . . . It rediscovers Virginia Woolf afresh." The Philadelphia Inquirer
While Virginia Woolfone of our century's most brilliant and mercurial writershas had no shortage of biographers, none has seemed as naturally suited to the task as Hermione Lee. Subscribing to Virginia Woolf's own belief in the fluidity and elusiveness of identity, Lee comes at her subject from a multitude of perspectives, producing a richly layered portrait of the writer and the woman that leaves all of her complexities and contradictions intact. Such issues as sexual abuse, mental illness, and suicide are brought into balance with the immensity of her literary achievement, her heroic commitment to her work, her generosity and wit, and her sanity and strength.
It is not often that biography offers the satisfactions of great fictionbut this is clearly what Hermione Lee has achieved. Accessible, intelligent, and deeply pleasurable to read, her Virginia Woolf will undoubtedly take its place as the standard biography for years to come.
"One of the most impressive biographies of the decade: moving, eloquent, powerful as both literary and social history."
Financial Times
"The most distinguished study of Woolf yet." The New Republic
Virginia Woolf
944Virginia Woolf
944Paperback(1 VINTAGE)
Related collections and offers
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780375701368 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |
Publication date: | 10/28/1999 |
Edition description: | 1 VINTAGE |
Pages: | 944 |
Sales rank: | 63,919 |
Product dimensions: | 5.17(w) x 8.03(h) x 1.80(d) |
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Explore More Items
It's not just the upcoming O.W.L.
This undated weekly planner notepad features iconic anime style imagery of beloved Harry Potter and
Through Virginia Woolf's pioneering use of stream-of-consciousness technique and impressionistic prose, Jacob's Room captures fragments of a life that is constantly slipping away, just beyond the
The Modern Library is proud to include Virginia Woolf's first novel, The Voyage Out--together with a new Introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Cunningham. Published to acclaim in
Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was originally published in 1920. Set in gaslit 1870s New York, where society people "dread scandal more than disease," Newland Archer is deeply