Women Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews

The Paris Review holds an exalted place in the annals of literature, and its interviews with writers are legendary. This reputation for excellence is borne out in the pages of this volume, the most recent in a series of interview collections and the second to focus on women writers. In her wonderfully saucy introduction, Margaret Atwood explains why a volume devoted solely to women writers is appropriate and desirable, an argument that paves the way for the edgy candor of the conversations themselves. Here are invaluable exchanges with such grande dames as Rebecca West and Katherine Ann Porter as well as interviews with contemporary writers, including Toni Morrison, Nadine Gordimer, and Joyce Carol Oates. A photograph, reproduction of a manuscript page (what a nice touch), and biographical sketch proceed each in-depth interview. The probing and intricate discussions conducted by the likes of Donald Hall, Edward Hirsch, and Elizabeth Spires touch on everything from inspiration to working methods, gossip, and transcendent experiences, and these women speak as magnificently as they write.