‘A more anarchic city’: Darryl Pinckney on New York literary life in the 1970s
The novelist’s memoir evokes the ambition and thrill of writing alongside Gore Vidal, Susan Sontag, James Baldwin and his mentor Elizabeth Hardwick
December 2019
Observer book of the week
The Dolphin Letters, 1970-1979: Elizabeth Hardwick, Robert Lowell, and Their Circle, edited by Saskia Hamilton – review
This collection of correspondence between the critic and the poet as their marriage fell apart provides a riveting study of ethics and betrayal
June 2019
Novel, letter, essay, memoir? Eimear McBride on Elizabeth Hardwick’s Sleepless Nights
Hardwick’s novel depicts her encounters with Billie Holiday and refers to her divorce from Robert Lowell, but is much more than autofiction
January 2018
Book of the day
The Collected Essays of Elizabeth Hardwick review – sublime critical insights
Darryl Pinckney’s generous selection celebrates pitch-perfect prose and prescient opinions from a golden age in literary criticism
June 2017
Essayism by Brian Dillon review – pure creativity on the page
Full of appreciation for such essayists as William Gass, Elizabeth Hardwick and Georges Perec, Dillon has written a vital exploration of a genre
May 2015
Books blog
Tips, links and suggestions: what are you reading this week?
Your space to discuss the books you are reading and what you think of them
August 2010
The New York Stories of Elizabeth Hardwick
Over a range of recurring themes – the uncertainty of belonging, the inscrutibility of men – Elizabeth Hardwick's fiction shines with wisdom and craft, writes Tim Adams
