Ellen Moers (1928–1979)

She includes writers as early as late 12th century with Marie de France through contemporary 20th century writers quite brilliantly. My interest was piqued in writers I had not read nor knew anything of so am in the process of widening my horizons. One statement she made I found arresting: "Willa Cather and Colette were born in 1973; Gertrude Stein a year later; Virginia Woolf eight years after Stein. Different as they were from each other, when considered together they suggest a coming to literary maturity of women writers, a peak of achievement from which our own later time may well seem, if not a falling-away, clearly a descent. In that sense, at least, they are "The Mothers of Us All," to borrow Gertrude Stein's title." Agree or disagree, her notes from pages 411-478, listing the writers along with a selected bibliography and other salient facts are worth the price of admission. Dr. Moers whose voice inspires admiration is a parepatetic writer with an amazing amount of ground to cover, and I was delighted to have journeyed with her.… (altro)