Almost famous women : stories / Megan Mayhew Bergman.
Material type:
TextPublisher: New York : Scribner, 2015Edition: First Scribner hardcover editionDescription: 236 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 22 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 1476786569
- 9781476786568
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | Fiction | Bergman Megan | Available | 33111007952837 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
From the acclaimed author of Birds of a Lesser Paradise , a dazzling new collection that explores the lives of unforgettable women in history.
The fascinating characters in Megan Mayhew Bergman's new stories are defined by their creative impulses, fierce independence, and sometimes reckless decisions. In "The Siege at Whale Cay," cross-dressing Standard Oil heiress Joe Carstairs seduces Marlene Dietrich. In "A High-Grade Bitch Sits Down for Lunch," aviator and writer Beryl Markham lives alone in Nairobi and engages in a battle of wills with a stallion. In "Hell-Diving Women," the first integrated, all-girl swing band sparks a violent reaction in North Carolina.
Other heroines, born in proximity to the spotlight, struggle to distinguish themselves: Lord Byron's illegitimate daughter, Allegra; Oscar Wilde's wild niece, Dolly; Edna St. Vincent Millay's talented sister, Norma; James Joyce's daughter, Lucia.
Almost Famous Women offers and elegant and intimate look at artists who desired recognition. The world wasn't always kind to the women who star in these stories, but through Mayhew Bergman's stunning imagination, they receive the attention they deserve.
Pretty, grown-together children -- Siege at Whale Cay -- Norma Millay's film noir period -- Romaine remains -- Hazel Eaton and the wall of death -- Autobiography of Allegra Byron -- Expression theory -- Saving Butterfly McQueen -- Who killed Dolly Wilde? -- High-grade bitch sits down for lunch -- Internees -- Lottery, redux -- Hell-diving women.
A collection of stories that explores the lives of talented, gutsy women throughout history. Now Megan Mayhew Bergman resurrects these women, lets them live in the reader's imagination, so we can explore their difficult choices. Nearly every story in this collection is based on a woman who attained some celebrity--she raced speed boats or was a conjoined twin in show business; a reclusive painter of renown; a member of the first all-female, integrated swing band. We see Lord Byron's illegitimate daughter, Allegra; Oscar Wilde's troubled niece, Dolly; "West With the Night" author Beryl Markham; Edna St. Vincent Millay's sister, Norma. These extraordinary stories travel the world, explore the past (and delve into the future), and portray fiercely independent women defined by their acts of bravery, creative impulses, and sometimes reckless decisions.