In Judy Blume, journalist and historian Mark Oppenheimer pens a portrait of the author through extensive interviews with Blume herself, access to her papers and correspondence, and analysis of Blume’s novels.
Nuanced ... If Ms. Blume comes across as a woman of contradictions, it’s because Mr. Oppenheimer’s vibrant, authoritative account—drawn from interviews, correspondence, Ms. Blume’s papers and her own extensive commentary on Mr. Oppenheimer’s draft—leaves nothing to the imagination, preventing the reader from filling in gaps with his own simplifying bias.
Fans of schoolyard intrigue (and thus literary scandal) will be disappointed by the biography’s respectful sense of duty toward its subject ... Oppenheimer can be overly besotted ... The biography’s admiring stance toward its subject doesn’t preclude material that Blume herself might have bristled at ... None of the revelations feels especially explosive.
Thoughtful, thorough ... Oppenheimer shines in placing Blume’s work within the context of children’s books of the time ... Blume gave Oppenheimer long interviews and copious notes, but their relationship seems to have soured at some point. Even the author’s epilogue bears a tone of regret that he couldn’t do better ... He is being too hard on himself.
