Fortieth anniversary edition of the foundational text of women of color feminism.

Originally released in 1981, This Bridge Called My Back is a testimony to women of color feminism as it emerged in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Through personal essays, criticism, interviews, testimonials, poetry, and visual art, the collection explores, as coeditor Cherríe Moraga writes, the complex confluence of identities-race, class, gender, and sexuality-systemic to women of color oppression and liberation.

Reissued here, forty years after its inception, this anniversary edition contains a new preface by Moraga reflecting on Bridge's living legacy and the broader community of women of color activists, writers, and artists whose enduring contributions dovetail with its radical vision. Further features help set the volume's historical context, including an extended introduction by Moraga from the 2015 edition, a statement written by Gloria Anzaldúa in 1983, and visual art produced during the same period by Betye Saar, Ana Mendieta, Yolanda López, and others, curated by their contemporary, artist Celia Herrera Rodríguez. Bridge continues to reflect an evolving definition of feminism, one that can effectively adapt to and help inform an understanding of the changing economic and social conditions of women of color in the United States and throughout the world.

With Eve's Hollywood Eve Babitz lit up the scene in 1974. The books that followed, among them Slow Days, Fast Company and Sex and Rage, have seduced generations of readers with their unfailing wit and impossible glamour. What is less well known is that Babitz was a working journalist for the better part of three decades, writing for the likes of Rolling Stone, Vogue, and Esquire, as well as for off-the-beaten-path periodicals like Wet: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing and Francis Ford Coppola's short-lived City. Whether profiling Hollywood darlings, getting to the bottom of health crazes like yoga and acupuncture, remembering friends and lovers from her days hobnobbing with rock stars at the Troubadour and art stars at the Ferus Gallery, or writing about her beloved, misunderstood hometown, Los Angeles, Babitz approaches every assignment with an energy and verve that is all her own.

I Used to Be Charming gathers nearly fifty pieces written between 1975 and 1997, including the full text of Babitz's wry book-length investigation into the pioneering lifestyle brand Fiorucci. The title essay, published here for the first time, recounts the accident that came close to killing her in 1996; it reveals an uncharacteristically vulnerable yet never less than utterly charming Babitz.

Women over 80 have done and are doing important, beautiful, and amazing things. The idea for this book came about as friends sat around talking about what it meant to be turning 80, wondering what other women felt, what their lives were like. A couple of us had the idea of collecting accounts and putting together a book. So off went calls for submissions in various literary sources, and we were amazed at the response. Women in their 80s and 90s from all over the country and abroad sent us stories about their joys, sorrows, adventures, love lives, losses, memories, and their aches and pains. There was sadness. There was humor. There was advice. There was so much! And we received artwork as well, some of which is included.

The title, When A Woman Tells the Truth, is part of a quote by the writer Adrienne Rich. The full sentence is When a woman tells the truth she is creating the possibility for more truth around her. It is in her landmark book On Lies, Secrets, and Silence, published by W.W. Norton & Co., 1979.

A true American original--radical transcendentalist, intrepid journalist, and pioneering feminist--joins Library of America with the most authoritative single-volume collection of her writings ever, including many rare and previously unpublished works, newly transcribed from original notebooks and journals

Transcendentalist, journalist, feminist, activist, public intellectual, war correspondent, poet: Margaret Fuller's achievement in her short life was as diverse, wide-ranging, and radical as her multi-generic writings. Now, at long last, this pioneering writer joins Library of America with the most comprehensive and most authoritative version of her writings ever published.

Here are her two best-known books: Summer on the Lakes, in 1843, an account of her travels to the Great Lakes, a plea for better treatment of the American Indian peoples, and a sketchbook of Fuller's thought; and Woman in the Nineteenth Century, the foundational document of American feminism and the first major work on women's rights since Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman fifty-three years earlier.

Joining them are a generous selection of Fuller's published essays and journalism, including American Literature and her reviews and columns for the New York Tribune, as well as her war correspondence from besieged Rome in 1849; unpublished writings and selections from Fuller's journals, many previously unknown and newly transcribed for this volume; and a selection of Fuller's letters, including three newly translated from the original Italian.

Rounding out the volume are a chronology by Fuller's biographer Megan Marshall, along with helpful notes identifying Fuller's many allusions and quotations, and an index.

Struggling for 30 years with chronic illness at her ranch outside Uvalde, Texas, Ann Alejandro was a writer of transporting natural talent and prolificity. Though she would have loved to be widely read and appreciated, she was too modest to scale the walls of the publishing world. Thus her chosen form was the letter and her audience close friends and family, including the poet Naomi Nye and the essayist Marion Winik. For decades, her often lengthy missives continued to delight her correspondents, blending observation, storytelling, humor, praise, and accounts of her deep attachment to the land and animals that surrounded her in the rural Southwest.

Before Ann's death in 2019 at the age of 64, Naomi and Marion promised her they would pull together a book from thousands of pages left in their care. They selected the very best of Ann Alejandro, added commentary, and organized the material into chapters with titles like Faith, Motherhood, Land, Snakes, Pain, and Love.

I Know About a Thousand Things: The Writings of Ann Alejandro of Uvalde, Texas is an extraordinary collection of writing put together by two longtime literary friends in tribute to a third. It includes an introduction by Nye and and an afterword by Winik, as well as a photo gallery of Ann's life. It will delight and enrich readers for years to come.

Sonia Guti rrez's Dreaming with Mariposas, written in a Tom s Rivera and Sandra Cisneros bildungsroman vignette style, recounts the story of the Mart nez family as told through the eyes of transfronteriza/transboundary Sof a Mart nez, Chofi, Francisco and Helena's daughter, as well as multiple narrators, emulating oral tradition. The novel embraces food as a communal practice with the ability to heal a family through storytelling. Dreaming with Mariposas presents glimpses of poetic diction in times of anti-rhetoric, inspiring readers to reclaim their sacred spaces and voices and to pursue dreams even when the future looks dismal. Chofi witnesses institutional racism, sexual harassment, and colorism and learns to navigate her parents' dreams and her dreams as she discovers her superpower, the strength of her Mexican Indigenous heritage, and the spirit world.

Full of heart and wisdom, Daughters of Latin America sheds a brilliant light on Latine and Caribbean women writers across time, space, languages, and genres.--World Literature Today

Spanning time, styles, and traditions, a dazzling collection of essential works from 140 Latine writers, scholars, and activists from across the world--from warrior poet Audre Lorde to novelist Edwidge Danticat and performer and author Elizabeth Acevedo and artist/poet Cecilia Vicuña--gathered in one magnificent volume.

Daughters of Latin America collects the intergenerational literary voices of Latine women across time and space, capturing the power, strength, and creativity of these visionary writers, leaders, scholars, and activists--including 24 Indigenous voices. Several authors featured are translated into English for the first time. Grammy, National Book Award, Cervantes, and Pulitzer Prize winners as well as a Nobel Laureate and the next generation of literary voices are among the stars of this essential collection, women whose work inspires and transforms us.

An eclectic and inclusive time capsule spanning centuries, genres, and geographical and linguistic diversity, Daughters of Latin America is divided into 13 sections representing the 13 holy moons, each cycle honoring a different theme. Within its pages are poems from U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón; lyric essays from New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo, Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Guggenheim Fellow Maryse Condé; rousing speeches from U.S. Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, and Lencan Indigenous land and water protector Berta Caceres; and a transcendent Mazatec chant from shaman and poet María Sabina testifying to the power of language as a cure, which opens the book.

More than a collection of writings, Daughters of Latin America is a resurrection of ancestral literary inheritance as well as a celebration of the rising voices encouraged and nurtured by those who came before them.

In addition to those mentioned above, contributors include Elizabeth Acevedo, Julia Alvarez, Albalucia Angel, Marie Arana, Ruth Behar, Gioconda Belli, Miluska Benavides, Carmen Bouollosa, Giannina Braschi, Norma Cantú, Ana Castillo, Sandra Cisneros, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Angie Cruz, Edwidge Danticat, Julia de Burgos, Lila Downs, Laura Esquivel, Conceição Evaristo, Mayra Santos Febres, Sara Gallardo, Cristina Rivera Garza, Reyna Grande, Sonia Guiñasaca, Georgina Herrera, María Hinojosa, Claudia Salazar Jimenez, Jamaica Kincaid, María Clara Sharupi Jua, Amada Libertad, Josefina López, Gabriela Mistral, Celeste Mohammed, Cherrié Moraga, Angela Morales, Nancy Morejón, Anaïs Nin, Achy Obejas, Alejandra Pizarnik, Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro, Elena Poniatowska, Laura Restrepo, Ivelisse Rodriguez, Mikeas Sánchez, Esmeralda Santiago, Rita Laura Segato, Ana María Shua, Natalia Toledo, Julia Wong, Elisabet Velasquez, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, Helena María Viramontes, and many more.

UNA EXTRAORDINARIA SELECCIÓN DE OBRAS ESENCIALES, EN SU MAYORÍA INÉDITAS, QUE CELEBRAN LA FUERZA, EL TALENTO Y LA DIVERSIDAD DE LAS MUJERES LATINAS, Y TIENDEN PUENTES QUE NOS CONECTAN LAS UNAS CON LAS OTRAS.

Desde la prosa implacable de sor Juana Inés de la Cruz hasta los poderosos cantos de la chamana María Sabina; desde las luchas revolucionarias de Audre Lorde, Lolita Lebrón y Berta Cáceres hasta el activismo de Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; desde los versos pioneros de Cecilia Vicuña, Maryse Condé, Nancy Morejón y Conceição Evaristo hasta la poesía transgresora de Elizabeth Acevedo, Sonia Guiñansaca y Ada Limón, 140 mujeres de América Latina y el Caribe se juntan en esta colección sin precedentes. Un fascinante universo lírico que celebra las voces nacientes, alentadas y alimentadas por quienes, con sus plumas como machetes, despejaron el camino.

Esta antología fue inspirada para reunirnos y contrarrestar juntas la invisibilización y los mitos que existen en torno a la literatura y el talento de las poderosas Hijas de América Latina, en donde quiera que estemos alzando nuestras voces: de Chicago a São Paulo, de Loíza a Asunción, de Portsmouth a Puerto Príncipe, del Bronx a Buenos Aires, de Chiapas a Los Ángeles, y más allá . --de la introducción por Sandra Guzmán.

----

AN EXTRAORDINARY SELECTION OF ESSENTIAL WORKS THAT CELEBRATE THE STRENGTH, TALENT, AND DIVERSITY OF LATINE WOMEN, AND BUILD BRIDGES THAT CONNECT US TO ONE ANOTHER.

From the relentless prose of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz to the powerful chants of the shaman Maria Sabina; from the revolutionary struggles of Audre Lorde, Lolita Lebrón, and Berta Cáceres to the activism of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; from the pioneering verses of Cecilia Vicuña, Maryse Condé, Nancy Morejón, and Conceição Evaristo to the transgressive poetry of Elizabeth Acevedo, Sonia Guiñansaca, and Ada Limón, 140 women from Latin America and the Caribbean come together in this unprecedented collection. A fascinating lyrical universe that celebrates the emerging voices, nurtured and encouraged by those who, with their pens as machetes, cleared the path.

This anthology has been inspired to disrupt erasure and myths, to gather us, the powerful literary Daughters of Latin America, from Chicago to São Paulo, from Loíza to Asunción, from Portsmouth to Puerto Príncipe, from the Bronx to Buenos Aires, from Chiapas to Los Ángeles, and beyond. --from the introduction by Sandra Guzmán

Joan Didion's influence on postwar American letters is undeniable. Whether writing fiction, memoir, or trailblazing journalism, her gifts for narrative and dialogue, and her intimate but detached authorial persona, have won her legions of readers and admirers. Now Library of America launches its multi-volume edition of Didion's collected writings, prepared in consultation with the author, that brings together her fiction and nonfiction for the first time. Collected in this first volume are Didion's five iconic books from the 1960s and 1970s: Run River, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Play It As It Lays, A Book of Common Prayer, and The White Album. Whether writing about countercultural San Francisco, the Las Vegas wedding industry, Lucille Miller, Charles Manson, or the shopping mall, Didion achieves a wonderful negative sublimity without condemning her subjects or condescending to her readers. Chiefly about California, these books display Didion's genius for finding exactly the right language and tone to capture America's broken twilight landscape at a moment of headlong conflict and change.

A Penguin Classic

When Four Stories by American Women was first published by Penguin Classics in 1990, it understandably reflected the second-wave feminist interpretations of that time--a period marked by an impressive recovery of what were then considered to be minor American writers. Since then, the four white women writers included in the volume--Rebecca Harding Davis, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Edith Wharton--have become canonical figures, and scholars have grown to see their work as only a small part of the rich tapestry of American women's lives, values, and political beliefs in the fertile period of late nineteenth century and early twentieth century American literature. Today, we not only have a deeper understanding of the significance of these texts and the complicated nature of their authors' ideological orientations, scholars and educators have also expanded the canon of American women writers to more frequently foreground the voices of non-white and queer writers whose work speaks more fully to the experiences and beliefs of all American women. This updated and expanded volume, Twelve Stories by American Women edited by Arielle Zibrak, offers a more diverse selection of writers--including Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, María Cristina Mena, Zitkala-Sa, Sui Sin Far, and Barbara E. Pope--; covers hot-button issues such as environmentalism, queerness, and marital status; and provides a new introduction that highlights the developments in the critical understanding of turn-of-the-century American women writers in all of their complexity.

A fun and fearless anthology of feminist tales, by sixteen bestselling, award-winning writers.

'Wonderful . . . all killer, no filler' Red Magazine
'Dazzling stories, as inventive as they are inspiring' Daily Mirror
'Where power and feminist rage meet' Stylist

BANSHEE. DRAGON. TYGRESS. SHE-DEVIL. HUSSY. SIREN. WENCH. HARRIDAN. MUCKRAKER. SPITFIRE. VITUPERATOR. CHURAIL. TERMAGANT. FURY. WARRIOR. VIRAGO.

For centuries past, and all across the world, there are words that have defined and decried us. Words that raise our hackles, fire up our blood; words that tell a story. In this blazing cauldron of a book, sixteen bestselling, award-winning writers have taken up their pens and reclaimed these words, creating an entertaining and irresistible collection of feminist tales for our time.

STORIES BY: Margaret Atwood, Susie Boyt, Eleanor Crewes, Emma Donoghue, Stella Duffy, Linda Grant, Annie Hodson, Claire Kohda, CN Lester, Kirsty Logan, Caroline O'Donoghue, Chibundu Onuzo, Helen Oyeyemi, Rachel Seiffert, Kamila Shamsie, Ali Smith, with an Introduction by Sandi Toksvig

In Old Enough, twenty-one women artists and writers write about the experience of aging. Gay, straight, unmarried, partnered, widowed, Black, white, Latinx, retired, and working, these women are not squeamish about the challenges of growing older, including ageism, health concerns, and loss. And they are frank about how received notions of female aging can be restrictive and diminishing. But in lyrical, sometimes wry, often inspiring essays they explore what growing older can offer: self-knowledge, insight, and acceptance. Striking portraits by award-winning photographer Carolyn Sherer, who is also a contributor to the volume, accompany each essay.

At the heart of this invigorating collection is the bold championing of creative practice. Some contributors look back to their girlhood to recall their first powerful connections to art, while others show how they have refreshed their commitment to maintaining a practice. However, all are still driven to create and to investigate, to stay committed to the processes that work while finding new ways to stay creatively alive. Old Enough aims to honor the limitless variety, depth, and scope of being old enough and will resonate with readers who want to understand and find purpose, meaning, and comradery in their creative journey.

If you knew that today was going to be your last day, or your last day with a loved one, would that change how you went about your day? Of course! You probably wouldn't pick a fight with your spouse over something that annoyed you. Instead of being frustrated when your child keeps begging for your attention, I bet you would hold them close and treasure your time. The ugly truth is that no one knows which day will be their last. Or the last day we have with a loved one. We often think we have time to do all the things to live our best lives or even to mend our differences. But how unfortunate it is when a life ends before we are ready--which, by the way, I think is always the case. Each chapter in this book is a different person's story, that I have in some way had a connection with. Each story offers a uniquely different perspective on the question of What if today was your last? My hopes and intentions are to give whoever reads this a gift--an everlasting gift: a gift of awareness, through these stories, that we must make the most of each and every day. They say tomorrow is never promised. I believe that's true, and that's why we shouldn't take it for granted! Life is so much more meaningful when we appreciate it.

Elísabet Benavent (Valencia, 1984). La publicación de la Saga Valeria en 2013 la catapultó a la escena literaria y se convirtió en un auténtico fenómeno. Desde entonces ha escrito 22 novelas. Algunas han sido traducidas a varios idiomas y publicadas en diez países. En 2020 la serie Valeria se estrenó en Netflix en más de 190 países y batió récords de audiencia. En 2021 se estrenó con gran éxito la película Fuimos canciones, inspirada en la Bilogía Canciones y recuerdos. Sus libros llevan vendidos más de 3.600.000 ejemplares.

«Las palabras son para mí un salvavidas; una forma de vivir, un puñado de abrazos lentos . --Elísabet Benavent

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

MORE THAN 3,600,000 COPIES SOLD

«Words are hugs and here are mine: A compilation of what I have felt, imagined and lived in recent years . -ELÍSABET BENAVENT

Elisabet Benavent (Valencia, 1984). The publication of her Saga Valeria in 2013 catapulted the author onto the literary scene. Benavent immediately became a true literary phenomenon. Since then, she has written 22 novels. Some of them have been translated into several languages and published in ten countries. In 2020, Saga Valeria became a series, premiered on Netflix and streamed in more than 190 countries at the same time. The series broke audience records. In 2021, the film We Were Songs was released with great success, an it was inspired by Benavent's Biología Canciones y recuerdos.

«Words are a lifeline for me, a way of living, a handful of soft embraces. --Elísabet Benavent

Amy's journey as a single mother of ten children, including her youngest with a challenging diagnosis, is a testament to her courage and resilience.

Her book Braver Together provides a raw and honest account of her family's experiences, from navigating difficulties to embracing moments of joy.

Through global adventures with her five younger children, Amy creates lasting memories and shares their inspiring stories with the world.

The unwavering support of her children and community, combined with her strong faith, showcases the power of unity and belief in overcoming obstacles.

Amy's narrative is a touching reminder of the importance of having a strong support system and the inner strength that propels individuals through adversity.Readers will be moved by the love, determination, and unwavering faith that shine through Amy's storytelling, offering solace and motivation to those facing challenges.

The book delves into the day-to-day life of Amy and her family, blending humor, tender moments, and reflections on the significance of community and embracing life's precious moments. Amy's story serves as a beacon of hope, encouraging readers to cultivate their own support networks and find strength in vulnerability and connection.

Despite facing daunting circumstances, Amy's story is a testament to the power of love and faith in guiding one through life's darkest moments.

Braver Together is a celebration of resilience, love, and the human spirit, offering inspiration to all who believe in the strength of perseverance and the beauty of the human heart.

More of Mason Currey's irresistible Daily Rituals, this time exploring the daily obstacles and rituals of women who are artists--painters, composers, sculptors, scientists, filmmakers, and performers. We see how these brilliant minds get to work, the choices they have to make: rebuffing convention, stealing (or secreting away) time from the pull of husbands, wives, children, obligations, in order to create their creations.

From those who are the masters of their craft (Eudora Welty, Lynn Fontanne, Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie Curie) to those who were recognized in a burst of acclaim (Lorraine Hansberry, Zadie Smith) . . . from Clara Schumann and Shirley Jackson, carving out small amounts of time from family life, to Isadora Duncan and Agnes Martin, rejecting the demands of domesticity, Currey shows us the large and small (and abiding) choices these women made--and continue to make--for their art: Isak Dinesen, I promised the Devil my soul, and in return he promised me that everything I was going to experience would be turned into tales, Dinesen subsisting on oysters and Champagne but also amphetamines, which gave her the overdrive she required . . . And the rituals (daily and otherwise) that guide these artists: Isabel Allende starting a new book only on January 8th . . . Hilary Mantel taking a shower to combat writers' block (I am the cleanest person I know) . . . Tallulah Bankhead coping with her three phobias (hating to go to bed, hating to get up, and hating to be alone), which, could she mute them, would make her life as slick as a sonnet, but as dull as ditch water . . . Lillian Hellman chain-smoking three packs of cigarettes and drinking twenty cups of coffee a day--and, after milking the cow and cleaning the barn, writing out of elation, depression, hope (That is the exact order. Hope sets in toward nightfall. That's when you tell yourself that you're going to be better the next time, so help you God.) . . . Diane Arbus, doing what gnaws at her . . . Colette, locked in her writing room by her first husband, Henry Gauthier-Villars (nom de plume: Willy) and not being let out until completing her daily quota (she wrote five pages a day and threw away the fifth). Colette later said, A prison is one of the best workshops . . . Jessye Norman disdaining routines or rituals of any kind, seeing them as a crutch . . . and Octavia Butler writing every day no matter what (screw inspiration).
Germaine de Staël . . . Elizabeth Barrett Browning . . . George Eliot . . . Edith Wharton . . . Virginia Woolf . . . Edna Ferber . . . Doris Lessing . . . Pina Bausch . . . Frida Kahlo . . . Marguerite Duras . . . Helen Frankenthaler . . . Patti Smith, and 131 more--on their daily routines, superstitions, fears, eating (and drinking) habits, and other finely (and not so finely) calibrated rituals that help summon up willpower and self-discipline, keeping themselves afloat with optimism and fight, as they create (and avoid creating) their creations.

What do Sylvia Plath, Mae West, Taylor Swift, Shirley Chisholm, Helen Keller, Sally Ride, Toni Morrison, Dolores Huerta, Lizzie Borden, Billie Jean King, and Eleanor of Aquitaine have in common? They're all stars in 2024's FAST FAMOUS WOMEN: 75 Essays of Flash NonFiction, the latest volume in Gina Barreca's FAST WOMEN series. As in previous titles, brilliant well-known writers and columnists with established voices are joined by a chorus of emerging writers from diverse backgrounds, some of whom had never before seen their work in a book with with an ISBN. New works by Jane Smiley, Caroline Leavitt, Mimi Pond, Molly Peacock, Phillis Levin, Darien Hsu Gee, Cheryl Della Pietra, and Ebony Root offer provocative and deeply personal reflections on the women in the public eye who shaped their own visions of a woman's life, talents, role, and possibilities. FAST FAMOUS WOMEN is, in effect, the most glamorous of great dinner parties, welcoming all readers to the world of women's lives lived in public view. Some guests whoop it up over champagne and oysters while others weep in corners; a few dance on the veranda and while others set out plates or, hands on hips, face the mess. Fast Famous Women is a literary event you won't want to miss.

Never-before-seen unpublished works by award-winning American literary icon Ntozake Shange, featuring essays, plays, and poems from the archives of the seminal Black feminist writer who stands alongside giants like Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, curated by National Book Award winner Imani Perry with a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Tarana Burke.

In the late '60s, Ntozake Shange was a student at Barnard College discovering her budding talent as a writer, publishing in her school's literary journal, and finding her unique voice. By the time she left us in 2018, Shange had scorched blazing trails across countless pages and stages, redefining genre and form as we know them, each verse, dance, and song a love letter to Black women and girls, and the community at large.
Sing a Black Girl's Song is a new posthumous collection of Shange's unpublished poems, essays, and plays from throughout the life of the seminal Black feminist writer. In these pages we meet young Shange, learn the moments that inspired for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf..., travel with an eclectic family of musicians, sit on The Couch opposite Shange's therapist, and discover plays written after for colored girls' international success. Sing a Black Girl's Song houses, in their original form, the literary rebel's politically charged verses from the Black Arts Movement era alongside her signature tender rhythm and cadence that capture the minutia and nuance of Black life. Sing a Black Girl's Song is the continuation of a literary tradition that has bolstered generations of writers and a long-lasting gift from one of the fiercest and most highly celebrated artists of our time.

In 2008, academic and scholar Susan Gubar was told by a trusted oncologist that she had only a few years left to live. Though she outlived that dire prognosis, this brush with mortality refocused her attention on the boons of a longevity she did not expect to experience. She began to think: In the last years of our lives, can we shape and change our creative capabilities?

The resulting volume, Grand Finales, answers this question with a resounding yes. Despite the losses generally associated with aging, quite a few writers, painters, sculptors, musicians, and dancers have managed to extend and repurpose their creative energies. Gubar spotlights very creative old ladies: writers, painters, sculptors, musicians, and dancers from the past and in our times.

Each of Grand Finales' nine riveting chapters features women artists--George Eliot, Colette, Georgia O'Keeffe, Isak Dinesen, Marianne Moore, Louise Bourgeois, Mary Lou Williams, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Katherine Dunham--who transformed the last stage of existence into a rousing conclusion. Gubar draws on their late lives and works to suggest that seniority can become a time of reinvention and renewal. With pizzazz, bravado, and geezer machismo, she counters the discrediting of elderly women and clarifies the environments, relationships, activities, and attitudes that sponsor a creative old age.