January 24, 2022
The clever observations of critic and novelist Elizabeth Hardwick (1916–2007) shine in this sharp collection. The essays range from lyrical musings on places Hardwick lived—Kentucky, Maine, and New York—to insights on literature and thoughts on celebrities. In “Piety and Politics,” she writes of the Carter family, who “astonish by their sunny intrepidity,” and reflects on the time when Jimmy Carter’s evangelism seemed to inspire hope—he was a “mysterious figure, charismatic in his ascent rather than in his person,” she writes. “Faye Dunaway: The Face in the Dark” sees Hardwick consider the power of film stars and the “electricity” of Dunaway’s charm, while in “Women Re Women” she posits that “what seems to be ahead is that the women will have the new problems created by the new problems men have.” Hardwick’s takes are reliably witty, and her prose is always a pleasure: in “New York City: Crash Course,” she describes Manhattan on a “gray Sunday afternoon, smoky light, and a sanctified drowsing... quiet except for the sacrificial athleticism of the joggers... preparing to run in the park, as a rabbit out of its hutch will surely hop off.” This is a rousing testament to Hardwick’s enduring vision.