This beautifully written, frequently moving book is a crucial addition to the scholarship on Simone de Beauvoir.
A previously undiscovered cache of uncataloged letters prompts an examination of Simone de Beauvoir’s relationship with her readers.
“Nothing prepared me for the drama I found the first time I opened a folder of readers’ letters to [her],” writes Coffin about her discovery. In the letters, which are held at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, in Paris, Coffin read about the experiences of men and women who “wanted to meet Beauvoir, to share their memories or to share in hers.” The letters are fascinating, but this scrupulously researched book does more than recount their content. Coffin asserts that “the ‘Simone de Beauvoir’ that we know would not exist without her readers’ formative role.” According to Coffin, the dynamic relationship between authors and readers does not flow in one direction. Beauvoir’s ideas may have deeply affected her readers, but her readers had a significant impact on her, as well. Beauvoir, the author reminds us, once wrote that “a book is a collective object: readers contribute as much as the author to its creation.” Indeed, writes Coffin, “these letters make us take that point seriously. They do not simply provide the context in which to better understand Beauvoir’s ideas.” Coffin provides even further context for the books and world events to which Beauvoir’s readers were responding, including The Second Sex, Beauvoir’s relationship with Sartre, France’s war with Algeria, and the legacy of World War II. The book is dense with ideas, but the clarity of Coffin’s prose makes her a genial guide. The highlight, though, is the letters themselves, which are eloquent, poignant, and often unassuming. “Everything you say in your memoirs I have felt; I would have liked to have been able to say it, but I explain myself very poorly,” one wrote. They did quite a bit better than that.
This beautifully written, frequently moving book is a crucial addition to the scholarship on Simone de Beauvoir.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5017-5054-0
Page Count: 334
Publisher: Cornell Univ.
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
Riveting and exquisitely crafted.
Musician, poet and visual artist Smith (Trois, 2008, etc.) chronicles her intense life with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe during the 1960s and ’70s, when both artists came of age in downtown New York.
Both born in 1946, Smith and Mapplethorpe would become widely celebrated—she for merging poetry with rock ’n’ roll in her punk-rock performances, he as the photographer who brought pornography into the realm of art. Upon meeting in the summer of 1967, they were hungry, lonely and gifted youths struggling to find their way and their art. Smith, a gangly loser and college dropout, had attended Bible school in New Jersey where she took solace in the poetry of Rimbaud. Mapplethorpe, a former altar boy turned LSD user, had grown up in middle-class Long Island. Writing with wonderful immediacy, Smith tells the affecting story of their entwined young lives as lovers, friends and muses to one another. Eating day-old bread and stew in dumpy East Village apartments, they forged fierce bonds as soul mates who were at their happiest when working together. To make money Smith clerked in bookstores, and Mapplethorpe hustled on 42nd Street. The author colorfully evokes their days at the shabbily elegant Hotel Chelsea, late nights at Max’s Kansas City and their growth and early celebrity as artists, with Smith winning initial serious attention at a St. Mark’s Poetry Project reading and Mapplethorpe attracting lovers and patrons who catapulted him into the arms of high society. The book abounds with stories about friends, including Allen Ginsberg, Janis Joplin, William Burroughs, Sam Shepard, Gregory Corso and other luminaries, and it reveals Smith’s affection for the city—the “gritty innocence” of the couple’s beloved Coney Island, the “open atmosphere” and “simple freedom” of Washington Square. Despite separations, the duo remained friends until Mapplethorpe’s death in 1989. “Nobody sees as we do, Patti,” he once told her.
Riveting and exquisitely crafted.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-621131-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Ecco/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.
A carefully curated personal portrait.
First ladies’ roles have evolved significantly in recent decades. Their memoirs typically reflect a spectrum of ambition and interests, offering insights into their values and personal lives. Melania Trump, however, stands out as exceptionally private and elusive. Her ultra-lean account attempts to shed light on her public duties, initiatives, and causes as first lady, and it defends certain actions like her controversial “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket. The statement was directed at the media, not the border situation, she claims. Yet the book provides scant detail about her personal orbit or day-to-day interactions. The memoir opens with her well-known Slovenian origin story, successful modeling career, and whirlwind romance with Donald Trump, culminating in their 2005 marriage, followed by a snapshot of Election Day 2016: “Each time we were together that day, I was impressed by his calm.…This man is remarkably confident under pressure.” Once in the White House, Melania Trump describes her functions and numerous public events at home and abroad, which she asserts were more accomplished than media representations suggested. However, she rarely shares any personal interactions beyond close family ties, notably her affection for her son, Barron, and her sister, Ines. And of course she lavishes praise on her husband. Minimal anecdotes about White House or cabinet staff are included, and she carefully defuses her rumored tensions with Trump’s adult children, blandly stating, “While we may share the same last name, each of us is distinct with our own aspirations and paths to follow.” Although Melania’s desire to support causes related to children’s and women’s welfare feels authentic, the overall tenor of her memoir seems aimed at painting a glimmering portrait of her husband and her role, likely with an eye toward the forthcoming election.
A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781510782693
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
