Mary Therese McCarthy (June 21, 1912 – October 25, 1989) was an American novelist, critic and political activist, best known for her novel
''The Group'', her marriage to critic
Edmund Wilson
Edmund Wilson Jr. (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972) was an American writer and literary critic who explored Freudian and Marxist themes. He influenced many American authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose unfinished work he edited for publi ...
, and her storied feud with playwright
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted aft ...
.
McCarthy was the winner of the Horizon Prize in 1949 and was awarded two
Guggenheim Fellowships
Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative abi ...
, in 1949 and 1959. She was a member of the
National Institute of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...
and the
American Academy in Rome
The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome.
The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.
History
In 1893, a group of American architects, ...
. In 1973, she delivered the
Huizinga Lecture The Huizinga Lecture (Dutch: ''Huizingalezing'') is an annual lecture in the Netherlands about a subject in the domains of cultural history or philosophy.See. The lecture is in honour of Johan Huizinga, a distinguished Dutch historian (1872–1945) ...
in Leiden, the Netherlands, under the title ''Can There Be a Gothic Literature?'' The same year she was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
.
She won the
National Medal for Literature and the
Edward MacDowell Medal
The Edward MacDowell Medal is an award which has been given since 1960 to one person annually who has made an outstanding contribution to American culture and the arts. It is given by MacDowell, the first artist residency program in the United Sta ...
in 1984. McCarthy held honorary degrees from
Bard,
Bowdoin,
Colby,
Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
,
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
, the
University of Maine at Orono
The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...
, the
University of Aberdeen
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
, and the
University of Hull
The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull ...
.
Literary career and public life
Her
debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...
, ''
The Company She Keeps
''The Company She Keeps'' is a 1951 drama film starring Lizabeth Scott, Jane Greer and Dennis O'Keefe.
The film was directed by John Cromwell, whose film the previous year, '' Caged'', also concerned a woman sent to prison.
It marked Jeff Bri ...
,'' received critical acclaim as a ''
succès de scandale
''Succès de scandale'' (French for "success from scandal") is a term for any artistic work whose success is attributed, in whole or in part, to public controversy surrounding the work. In some cases the controversy causes audiences to seek ou ...
'', depicting the social milieu of
New York intellectuals
The New York Intellectuals were a group of American writers and literary critics based in New York City in the mid-20th century. They advocated left-wing politics but were also firmly anti-Stalinist. The group is known for having sought to integra ...
of the late 1930s with unreserved frankness. It includes her celebrated short story "The Man in the Brooks Brothers Shirt" which ''Partisan Review'' published in 1941. It recounts the sexual encounter of a young bohemian intellectual woman and a middle-aged businessman encountered in the club car of a train. Although she finds him fat and grey, she is intrigued by his elegant
Brooks Brothers
Brooks Brothers, founded in Manhattan, New York, in 1818, is the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in America. Originally a family business, Brooks Brothers produces clothing for men, women and children, as well as home furnishings. B ...
shirts and his knowledge of literary figures. The story depicts—shockingly for the literary fiction of the era—not only the act of a woman choosing to sleep with a stranger but, more importantly, what that act shows of her needs and desires and the complexity of who she is.
After building a reputation as a satirist and critic, McCarthy enjoyed popular success when the 1963 edition of her novel ''
The Group
The Group may refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Group'' (Australian TV series), 1971 situation comedy produced by Cash Harmon Television for ATN7
* ''The Group'' (Canadian TV series), 1968–70 music variety on CBC Television
* ''The Group ...
'' remained on the
''New York Times'' Best Seller list for almost two years. Her work is noted for its precise prose and its complex mixture of autobiography and fiction.
Randall Jarrell
Randall Jarrell (May 6, 1914 – October 14, 1965) was an American poet, literary critic, children's author, essayist, and novelist. He was the 11th Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—a position that now bears the title Poe ...
's 1954 novel ''
Pictures from an Institution
''Pictures from an Institution: a Comedy'' is a 1954 novel by American poet Randall Jarrell. It is an academic satire, focusing on the oddities of academic life, in particular the relationships between the fictional character, characters and the ...
'' is said to be about McCarthy's year teaching at
Sarah Lawrence
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pio ...
.
Her feud with fellow writer
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted aft ...
formed the basis for the play ''
Imaginary Friends'' by
Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Academy Award for ...
. The feud had simmered since the late 1930s over ideological differences, particularly the questions of the
Moscow Trials
The Moscow trials were a series of show trials held by the Soviet Union between 1936 and 1938 at the instigation of Joseph Stalin. They were nominally directed against "Trotskyists" and members of "Right Opposition" of the Communist Party of th ...
and of Hellman's support for the "Popular Front" with
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
. McCarthy provoked Hellman in 1979 when she said on ''
The Dick Cavett Show
''The Dick Cavett Show'' was the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including:
* ABC daytime, (March 4, 1968–January 24, 1969) originally titled ''This Morning''
* ABC prime time, Tuesdays, We ...
'': "every word
ellman Ellman is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*John Ellman, agriculturalist of Glynde who developed the Southdown breed of sheep
*Louise Ellman, British politician
*Mark Ellman, see Maui Tacos
*Michael Ellman Dutch economist
See al ...
writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the'." Hellman responded by filing a $2.5 million
libel suit against McCarthy, which ended shortly after Hellman died in 1984. Observers of the trial noted the irony of Hellman's defamation suit was that it brought significant scrutiny. It resulted in a decline of Hellman's reputation, as McCarthy and her supporters worked to ''prove'' that Hellman had lied.
Although McCarthy broke ranks with some of her ''
Partisan Review
''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affiliated Joh ...
'' colleagues when they swerved toward conservative politics after World War II, she carried on lifelong friendships with
Dwight Macdonald,
Nicola Chiaromonte,
Philip Rahv
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
,
F. W. Dupee and
Elizabeth Hardwick. Perhaps most prized of all was her close friendship with
Hannah Arendt, with whom she maintained a sizable correspondence widely regarded for its intellectual rigor. After Arendt's passing, McCarthy became Arendt's literary executor, serving from 1976 until her own death in 1989. As executor, McCarthy prepared Arendt's unfinished manuscript ''
The Life of the Mind'' for publication. McCarthy taught at
Bard College
Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark.
Founded in 1860, ...
from 1946 to 1947, and again between 1986 and 1989. She also taught a winter semester in 1948 at
Sarah Lawrence College.
Ideology
McCarthy left the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
as a young woman, becoming an
atheist. McCarthy treasured her religious education for the classical foundation it provided her intellect while at the same time she depicted her loss of faith and her contests with religious authority as essential to her character.
In New York, she moved in "
fellow-traveling" Communist circles early in the 1930s, but by the latter half of the decade she repudiated Soviet-style Communism, expressing solidarity with
Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
after the
Moscow Trials
The Moscow trials were a series of show trials held by the Soviet Union between 1936 and 1938 at the instigation of Joseph Stalin. They were nominally directed against "Trotskyists" and members of "Right Opposition" of the Communist Party of th ...
, and vigorously countering playwrights and authors she considered to be sympathetic to
Stalinism.
As part of the ''
Partisan Review
''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affiliated Joh ...
'' circle and as a contributor to ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'', ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'', ''
Harper's Magazine'', and ''
The New York Review of Books
''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'', she garnered attention as a cutting critic, advocating the necessity for creative autonomy that transcends doctrine. During the 1940s and 1950s she became a liberal critic of both
McCarthyism and
Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
. She maintained her commitment to liberal critiques of culture and power to the end of her life, opposing the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
in the 1960s and covering the
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
hearings in the 1970s.
Opposition to Vietnam War
In 1967 and 1968, McCarthy travelled to North and South
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, to report on the war from an anti-war perspective. She documented her observations in two books: ''Vietnam'', and ''Hanoi''.
Interviewed after her first trip, she declared on British television that there was not a single documented case of the
Viet Cong
,
, war = the Vietnam War
, image = FNL Flag.svg
, caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green.
, active ...
deliberately killing a South Vietnamese woman or child. She wrote favorably about the Viet Cong.
McCarthy visited North Vietnam in March 1968, only a month after the
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the force ...
created havoc in South Vietnam. In her book, ''Hanoi,'' McCarthy provides a rare English-language description of life in North Vietnam during the war. McCarthy describes an orderly society, in which everyone pitched in to help with the war effort. North Vietnam received advance warning of most bombing attacks and McCarthy regularly had to take cover from American bombs.
McCarthy's visits to Vietnam were controversial. During her visit to North Vietnam, she met briefly with U.S. Air Force officer
James Risner, who was being held as a prisoner of war by North Vietnam. Years later, after his release, Risner attacked McCarthy for her not having recognized that he had been tortured by the North Vietnamese while in custody.
Personal life
Born in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington to Roy Winfield McCarthy and his wife, the former Martha Therese Preston, McCarthy at age six, and her three brothers, were orphaned when both their parents died in the
flu epidemic of 1918
The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
. She and her brothers,
Kevin
Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ).
The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...
, Preston and Sheridan, were raised in very unhappy circumstances by her Catholic father's parents in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, under the direct care of an uncle and aunt whom she remembered for harsh treatment and abuse.
When the situation became intolerable, McCarthy was taken in by her maternal grandparents in Seattle. Her maternal grandmother, Augusta Morganstern, was Jewish, and her maternal grandfather, Harold Preston, a prominent attorney and co-founder of the law firm
Preston Gates & Ellis
Preston Gates & Ellis, LLP, also known as Preston Gates, was a law firm with offices in the United States, China and Taiwan. Its main office was in the IDX Tower in Seattle, Washington. In 2007 the firm ceased to exist, merging with Kirkpatrick ...
, was
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
. Her brothers were sent to boarding school.
McCarthy credited her grandfather, who helped draft one of the nation's first
Workmen's Compensation
Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...
Acts, with helping form her liberal views. McCarthy explores the complex events of her early life in Minneapolis and her coming-of-age in Seattle in her memoir, ''
Memories of a Catholic Girlhood''. Her younger brother,
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician, serving as House Minority Leader in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as House Majority Leader under spea ...
, became an actor and starred in such movies as ''
Death of a Salesman
''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montag ...
'' (1951) and ''
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' is a 1956 American science fiction horror film produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The black-and-white film was shot in Superscope and in the film ...
'' (1956).
Under the guardianship of the Prestons, McCarthy studied at the
Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Seattle and
Annie Wright Seminary in
Tacoma. She attended
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...
, in
Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
, where she graduated in 1933 with an
A.B.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
''
cum laude'' and was elected to
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
.
Marriage and family
McCarthy married four times. In 1933 she married
Harald Johnsrud, an actor and playwright. She and critic
Philip Rahv
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
were lovers. Her best-known spouse was writer and critic
Edmund Wilson
Edmund Wilson Jr. (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972) was an American writer and literary critic who explored Freudian and Marxist themes. He influenced many American authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose unfinished work he edited for publi ...
, whom she married in 1938 after leaving Rahv. Wilson and McCarthy had a son,
Reuel Wilson.
After they divorced, in 1946 she married
Bowden Broadwater, who worked for the ''
New Yorker
New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to:
* A resident of the State of New York
** Demographics of New York (state)
* A resident of New York City
** List of people from New York City
* ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925
* '' The ...
''. They also divorced. In 1961, McCarthy married career diplomat
James R. West.
Death
McCarthy died of lung cancer on October 25, 1989, at
NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New Y ...
in New York City.
Film portrayals
In the 2012 German movie ''
Hannah Arendt'', Mary McCarthy is portrayed by
.
Selected works
* "The Man in The Brooks Brothers Shirt", published in ''
Partisan Review
''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affiliated Joh ...
'' in 1941
* ''
The Company She Keeps
''The Company She Keeps'' is a 1951 drama film starring Lizabeth Scott, Jane Greer and Dennis O'Keefe.
The film was directed by John Cromwell, whose film the previous year, '' Caged'', also concerned a woman sent to prison.
It marked Jeff Bri ...
'' (1942), Harvest/HBJ, 2003 reprint:
* ''
The Oasis (novel), The Oasis'' (1949), Backinprint.com, 1999 edition:
* ''Cast a Cold Eye'' (1950), HBJ, 1992 reissue:
* ''
The Groves of Academe
''The Groves of Academe'' (1952) is a novel by United States, American writer Mary McCarthy (author), Mary McCarthy. Considered to be one of the first campus novel, academic novels, it concerns the sequence of events that take place after Henry M ...
'' (1952), Harvest/HBJ, 2002 reprint:
* ''
A Charmed Life'' (1955), Harvest Books, 1992 reprint:
* ''Sights and Spectacles: 1937–1956'' (1956), FSG
* ''Venice Observed'' (1956), Harvest/HBJ, 1963 edition: (the 1963 edition lacks the illustrations present in the original book)
* ''
Memories of a Catholic Girlhood'' (1957), Harvest/HBJ, 1972 reprint: (autobiography)
* ''The Stones of Florence'' (1959), Harvest/HBJ, 2002 reprint of 1963 edition: (the 1963 edition lacks the illustrations present in the original book)
* ''On the Contrary'' (1961), LBS, 1980 reissue:
* ''
The Group
The Group may refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Group'' (Australian TV series), 1971 situation comedy produced by Cash Harmon Television for ATN7
* ''The Group'' (Canadian TV series), 1968–70 music variety on CBC Television
* ''The Group ...
'' (1963), 1963 edition from Harvest/HBJ, 1991 reprint: , adapted as a
1966 movie of the same name.
* ''Vietnam'' (1967), Harcourt, Brace & World,
* ''Hanoi'' (1968), Harcourt, Brace & World,
* ''The Writing on the Wall'' (1970), Mariner Books,
* ''Birds of America'' (1971), Harcourt, 1992 reprint:
* ''Medina'' (1972), Harvest/HBJ,
* ''The Mask of State: Watergate Portraits'' (1974), Harvest Books,
* ''
Cannibals and Missionaries'' (1979), Harvest/HBJ, 1991 reprint:
* ''Ideas and the Novel'' (1980), Harvest/HBJ,
* ''The Hounds of Summer and Other Stories'' (1981), Avon Books,
* ''Occasional Prose'' (1985), HBJ
* ''How I Grew'' (1987), Harvest Books, (intellectual autobiography age 13–21)
* ''Intellectual Memoirs'' (1992), published posthumously (edited and with a foreword by
Elizabeth Hardwick)
* ''A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays'' (2002), ''
New York Review Books
New York Review Books (NYRB) is the publishing division of ''The New York Review of Books''. Its imprints are New York Review Books Classics, New York Review Books Collections, The New York Review Children's Collection, New York Review Comics, Ne ...
'', (compilation of essays and critiques),
Books about McCarthy
*Sam Reese, ''The Short Story in Midcentury America: Countercultural Form in the Work of Bowles, McCarthy, Welty, and Williams'', (2017), Louisiana State University Press,
*Sabrina Fuchs Abrams, ''Mary McCarthy: Gender, Politics, And The Postwar Intellectual'', (2004), Peter Lang Publishing,
*Eve Stwertka (editor), ''Twenty-Four Ways of Looking at Mary McCarthy: The Writer and Her Work'', (1996), Greenwood Press,
*Carol Brightman (editor), ''Between Friends: The Correspondence of Hannah Arendt and Mary McCarthy 1949–1975'', (1996), Harvest/HBJ,
*Carol Brightman, ''Writing Dangerously: Mary McCarthy And Her World'', (1992), Harvest Books,
*Joy Bennet, ''Mary McCarthy; An Annotated Bibliography'', (1992), Garland Press,
*Carol Gelderman, ''Mary McCarthy: A Life'', 1990, St Martins Press,
*Doris Grumbach, ''The Company She Kept'', 1967, Coward-McCann, Inc., LoC CCN: 66-26531,
*Alan Ackerman, ''Just Words'', (2011), Yale University Press,
*Michelle Dean, ''Sharp: The Women Who Made an Art of Having an Opinion'', (2018), Grove Press,
*Frances Kiernan, ''Seeing Mary Plain: A Life of Mary McCarthy'', (2000), W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 0-393-03801-7
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
*
*
New York TimesFeatured Author Page (Book Reviews, Interviews, Sound Clips.)
Literary Encyclopedia(in-progress)
*
at Vassar College
Map of Mary's NYC, 1936–1938based on ''Intellectual Memoirs''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Mary
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