Mary Gordon

In the first full-length book on Mary Gordon, Alma Bennett adds a rich critical analysis of the writer's life and accomplishments to Twayne's United States Authors Series. Bennett draws on personal interviews with Gordon as well as other primary and secondary sources to provide students and scholars with a comprehensive introduction to Gordon's work and to the complex interplay between her personal history and public discourse. Through a discerning biographical sketch and chapters appraising each work in turn, Bennett traces Gordon's shifting thematic, structural, linguistic, and genre preoccupations during the first 20 years of her career. Special attention is given to the ways in which Gordon's literary trademarks (virtuosic language, moral seriousness, logical acuity, humor, candor, and intensity) serve her explorations of "enclosed circles of love, enmity, and loss" and of ways to connect "different passages of existence." Attention is also given to various labels, particularly that of "Catholic writer," which have been assigned to Gordon over the years. Lucid summaries help readers grasp the breadth of critical responses to Gordon's work. The final chapter, devoted to The Shadow Man, gives a circular shape to Bennett's study, providing an introduction and conclusion to autobiography and judgment. A refreshing contribution that will instruct students and scholars alike, Mary Gordon is suitable for secondary and college courses in contemporary American fiction and women's studies. The study includes excellent resources in the chronology, notes and references, bibliography, and index sections.