Columbia University historian Alice Kessler-Harris describes the life and times of Lillian Hellman, a groundbreaking figure as one of the most successful female playwrights on Broadway. Today she's often remembered more as a bitter survivor and literary fabulist, the woman of whom Mary McCarthy said, "Every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the.'" Kessler-Harris tackles Hellman's legacy in A Difficult Woman: The Challenging Life and Times of Lillian Hellman.

Comments [5]
Regarding Lillian Hellmann, it appears to be sufficient that her body of work lives on to enrich American literature; "ground-breaking" seems, to me excessive to characterize her playwriting career. Clearly so very much
was invested by Dr. Kessler-Harris in this volume, yet sadly, it may not resurrect Miss Hellman to be of interest to the current and/or future generations of readers.
German Jews probably have a lot of "Aryan" blood in them, perhaps making them believe they are the superior elite of "The Chosen."
Why the hell do we continue to lionize and reward these horrible, narcissistic monsters??
No! Radical fem-lib German-Jewish commie-huggers are liars too? You don't say! Tell me about it :) What a shocker!
Yes, they lie to everyone, but most importantly, to themselves most of all. And to their children about their fathers. They fervently believe all their own pieces of fiction.
I'm so grateful for the teacher that forced me to read An Unfinished Woman. Just proves that not all communists are bad people.
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