http://msarki.tumblr.com/post/108249292218/inviting-the-muses-stories-essays-rev...

Beginning my first study of the highly acclaimed, but seemingly lightly read, Marguerite Young, I chose this Dalkey Archive collection that features three of her short stories, some essays, and a few reviews of books she has read and felt she had something to say about them. It occurred to me that my choice of material for my very first introduction to the “grande dame of American letters” was quite fair, and actually the most direct and honest way into the mind of this talented writer. I think we learn so much about a writer when we read first-hand of the things which make them tick and those that, for one reason or another, fail to generally have the same lasting impact. It was refreshing for me to learn that even in 1945 literature suffered from the same disease it suffers from today, and that popular writers rarely make historical figures, and they, and their works, are often completely forgotten in due time. Marguerite fails to hold back and restrain her negative criticism of these particular writers and the woeful ones who read them. I like also that she found Jean Paul Sartre a bore and as meaningless as his concepts are. But it did not surprise me at all that she felt Carson McCullers a writer worthy to spend valuable time reading her work and entering into the worlds she creates in her brilliant and intelligent fiction.

Marguerite Young can herself also write a fine short story. All three offerings included in this book were extremely sophisticated and have now expedited my enlarged expectations for my sooner, rather than later, reading of her behemoth of a fiction titled [b:Miss MacIntosh, My Darling|596358|Miss MacIntosh, My Darling|Marguerite Young|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364314316s/596358.jpg|583036].

I did wholesomely welcome her gargantuan fervor as I read her words. I thoroughly enjoyed her strength, and the intelligent arguments and positions she took to make her stand on. There was also a confidence portrayed that bodes well for the relationship we both will share in the coming months. Though she herself is sadly gone from the physical world that I live in today, she is certainly still present and accountable through the published works she has left for us to be enjoyed, examined, and more generally uplifted as these whispers of her genius grow. ( )