I often wished I could find a brief, clear introduction to Cather’s life and work — a book that would intrigue and illuminate, without bogging down in scholarly disagreements. Benjamin Taylor...offers just that with Chasing Bright Medusas, his crisp sketch of Cather’s life — a portrait, as she described her vision for one of her own novels, 'like a thin miniature painted on ivory' ... Portraying Cather with the sort of swift, opinionated strokes she herself used to create her characters, Taylor offers an elegant literary essay rather than new facts or startling interpretations ... Big chunks of life occur offstage; details vanish; time is elided. But Taylor knows when to bear down. He deftly conveys the pathos of Cather’s long struggle to establish herself as a fiction writer, and the personal and professional troubles that pushed her toward a new aesthetic ... The beating heart of this book isn’t Taylor’s use of the letters, though, but his sure-handed sense of how to shape a propulsive narrative, which aligns with Cather’s own methods.
Slender, discerning ... Should appeal to anyone — novice or expert — ready to explore Cather’s life and work in the company of a critic so alert to the shimmering subtlety of her style and the hard years of effort that went into crystallizing it ... With great feeling and deeply informed perception, Taylor helps us readers realize anew the sustained effort it took for Cather to meet 'the rest of herself,' in her novels and her life.
This succinct biography is a terrific introduction to the life and work of the Pulitzer Prize winner. But don’t come looking for radical new insights. Taylor’s thorough, thoughtful study is more of a sincerely informed primer or devoted guide than a vigorous cultural analysis ... Though Taylor’s vivid and fleet-footed biography is by no means exhaustive, he dispels any perception that Cather is a stale artifact of America’s pioneer past. Cather is a fascinating literary figure whose exceptional life and work spans a highly transitional period of American history ... Throughout his biography, one isn’t struck by a new discovery or pressing urgency to write this book. There appears to be no new source material to spur a new evaluation.
[Taylor] has written a passionate love letter to her in the form of a brief but illuminating biography. Chasing Bright Medusas clocks in at just over 150 pages but it offers a fine introduction to one of the leading novelists of the American frontier ... By marshaling judicious quotes from her letters as well as her short stories and novels...Taylor makes a case for Cather’s enduring place in the American literary canon.
There have been a half dozen biographies of Willa Cather since her death in 1947, most notably substantial studies of the writer’s life and work by James Woodress and Hermione Lee. Benjamin Taylor’s trim account of Cather’s life belongs on the same shelf with those heftier narratives ... a love letter to a writer who deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as her male contemporaries—Hemingway, Steinbeck, Dos Passos, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald ... The title of Benjamin Taylor’s wonderfully uncluttered biography alludes to what Cather grappled with as a writer.
Taylor gives Cather the full treatment, and he does so splendidly. Taylor chooses a mostly chronological framework to tell Cather’s life story. His overarching technique is to marry select letters with Cather excerpts to pin down and amplify certain life moments ... The result is the most complete portrait of Cather to date, in large part because Taylor wisely chooses letters that not only help the narrative glide but also offer generous glimpses into his subject’s inner life ... delivers on Taylor’s promise to be a significant addition to Cather scholarship. It’s a rich and satisfying portrait of an important author and a deep, sophisticated investigation into why her work remains relevant.
Taylor, an award-winning memoirist, novelist and biographer, freely admits his great affection and admiration for Cather and her writing. In this relatively short but well-researched biography, he conveys Cather’s complexity, her strengths and her frailties ... Many of Cather’s letters have recently come to light, and Taylor uses them sensitively and effectively to tell her story. The letters humanize her, revealing a woman of tremendous genius and touching vulnerability. Taylor is at his most convincing when he links Cather’s literary works—from her first articles to her final story—to her life ... Not only is it a true delight to read these selections of Cather’s beautiful descriptions and wry observations of human nature, but her words seem to have truly inspired Taylor. His interpretations of the interplay of memory and description in Cather’s work are some of the most lyrical and moving passages in this highly polished and heartfelt book.
A remarkably revealing account of the life and creative output of Willa Cather ... Taylor may have profitably elaborated on his insights regarding Cather’s complex sexual and gender identity and its relevance to her fictive worlds, her fascination with forms of self-violence, or her relationships with literary contemporaries. Nevertheless, the author presents a rewarding and perceptive portrait, providing a valuable assessment of Cather’s intriguing character and the enduring importance of her oeuvre. Keen, insightful commentary on a literary master.
Taylor examines in this solid critical biography the ideas and passions that animated the life and work of novelist Willa Cather ... It’s a strong overview of Cather’s bibliography that’s as concise as her best novels.
