Marguerite Young, Our Darling: Tributes and Essays

by Miriam Fuchs (Editor)

With Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (1965) Marguerite Young established herself as one of the greatest writers of our time, and yet she has been slow to attract critical attention. Miriam Fuchs remedies that defect with the first book-length study of her work, a gathering of personal reminiscences and appreciative essays that explore the breadth of Young's achievement. Part 1 consists of tributes and recollections by such writers as Anne Tyler, Amy Clampitt, Stanley Kunitz, Anna Balakian, among other friends and students. Part 2 offers a dozen critical essays on her work, from Angel in the Forest to Young's forthcoming biography of Eugene Debs, with special attention to the wonders of Miss MacIntosh, My Darling. Part 3 consists of two interviews with Young. Also included are a dozen photos, most published here for the first time, and a chronology by Martha J. Sattler.

143 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1994

Reviews

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

"All of the books I have written have been one book, from the beginning." -- Ms Young, Our Darling

I am missing the first two chapters of Ms Young's one book.

As many of four hundred pages were cut from Miss MacIntosh, My Darling.

Only 600 of 2400 pages of Harp Song were published.

Her biography of James Whitcomb Riley has not been published.

[M. Sarki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly wonderful book and quite helpful to a novice such as myself being so recently introduced to the work of Marguerite Young. Every essay interesting and well-written. There are two brief interviews of Young in the back of the book, and at the front are several brief remembrances of her by friends, students, and acquaintances. It was actually quite an amazing read and worth every bit the five stars.

[Maurice Cloud · Rating 4 out of 5]

The accepted trope of American literature is that the truly great writers, from Melville and Whitman to Gaddis and, say, oh, Marguerite Young have to wait a very long time for recognition. This seems excessive, as if American readers just don't want to be rushed -- "Poe? Hmm, no need to rush these things, come back in thirty years or so and we'll talk . . ." Hand in hand with this crushing neglect is the additional burden of perception, that so so many of these writers are "difficult", you know, not exactly beach books. So what a joy when a writer, say, oh, Marguerite Young, who is rightfully or wrongfully perceived as "difficult" has the incredible good fortune to have someone come along to tell us that perceptions be damned! we're missing out out on something wonderful! And for Marguerite Young that someone is Miriam Fuchs who has edited (and contributed to) Marguerite Young, Our Darling . . . a collection of memoirs, essays, and interviews that should forever set the record straight on Young's place in the pantheon of Greats in American literature as well as shatter that "P" word about her work, that maybe after all what is really needed is just some patience and curiosity rather than an inside out understanding of post-modernist literary theorums . . . Marguerite Young is known for her (nearly) twelve hundred page novel Miss MacIntosh, My Darling published in 1965 by Scribners, a time when American publishers were not yet scared off by novelists whose work bore a whiff of, well, you know -- Critics of the book, and there weren't all that many initially, were for the most part put off by the book's length and missed the opportunity of proclaiming for one and all to hear the virtues of what is easily one of the most beautiful novels ever written. Period. So 'long 'round 1987 Miriam Fuchs approaches The Review of Contemporary Fiction -- the sister publication of the Dalkey Archive Press -- with the idea of righting this wrong. What began as, in part, an issue dedicated to Young eventually grew into Marguerite Young, Our Darling . . . in 1994. Part One of the book, following Fuchs' introduction and a very helpful chronology compiled by Martha Sattler, is given over to tributes and recollections of Young by a variety of writers and friends. The warmth given off by these reminiscences is sincere and enduring, Young, as much as her work, left her mark. Of particular merit are those by poet Amy Clampitt who focuses, appropriately enough, on Young's poetry, while Peter Marchant remembers a teacher (Young taught writing well into her eighties) who would not let him off the hook with a novel in progress that was going nowhere until she read it and who taught him that teaching could be " . . . an act of love and art." Along the way we read Anne Tyler's brief, touching account of how reading Miss MacIntosh . . . encouraged her to complete her novel An Accidental Tourist where-in Young's novel makes a symbolic appearance. Scholar Jean Petrolle contributes a portion of her Masters thesis on Young unraveling the "magic" prose that clings to each page of the book. Too, in her "Contributer"'s profile we learn that Petrolle was writing a book-length study of Miss MacIntosh . . . that I, for one, hope will see the light of day someday. Part Two consists of eleven mostly brief essays -- two by Fuchs -- that enlarge the palette of Young's work to include her non-fiction and poetry. Turns out that Young was fascinated by utopias and their embrace of what is 'real' . . . or not. The book concludes with two interviews with Young, the first by Fuchs and co-editor of the Review of Contemporary Fiction issue, Ellen Friedman, the second a snippet of Fuchs and Young discussing the seeming contradictory characteristics of her fiction. There are to be sure a couple of (very) small splotches on what is otherwise a wonderful and very welcome book, to wit: Occasional vapors of just too much varnish rising off a few of the contributions, Young's prose is not, at least to my eyes, in need of "hermeneutics", "intertextuality", and "paradigmatic ontological principles" critic-speak. Impenetrable jargon like this only impedes an author's public acceptance, not helps it. Secondly, while Young's poetry is fair looked at in this book her non-fiction, particularly her biography of labor organizer Eugene Debs does not receive, though it is discussed and the subject of one of the essays, the attention it deserves, an imbalance that one cannot really fuss too much about in light of how deep and how long the shadow Miss MacIntosh, My Darling casts . . . And with that it seems we're back where we began . . . Marguerite Young, Our Darling is a welcome companion for anyone who intends to read Young's massive missive, an act that too will give sum and substance to the life and work of one of Americas finest but still far too under-read writers. Highly recommended!

[Zachary Tanner]

Anyone with leads on Martha J. Sattler's descriptive bibliography said to soon be published by Dalkey in this edition, please feel free to friend me.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as I’m aware, this is the only book-length study of Marguerite Young’s work, which is a shame. Like all first studies of a since-renowned author, it’s more concerned with inciting new readers than getting into the nitty-gritty of the works themselves. Many of the anecdotes that comprise Part I are a little too self-centered, only tangentially related to Young. Some of the essays, too, read like glorified reviews, offering nothing more than generic laudatory comments and plot summaries. As you can imagine, they also prioritize Miss MacIntosh, My Darling over Young’s previous books. Overall it may be worth checking out of the library (like I did), but it’s certainly not worth the exorbitant prices it sells for online.