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.
Engaging ... Considers Blume’s entire body of work. While her oeuvre is often discussed in terms of hot-button topics, the biography offers a welcome reminder that Blume has excelled at lighthearted, funny books for children ... Also provides sharp critical assessments of Blume’s work for adults ... Perhaps most significantly, Oppenheimer conveys what the books – and their author – have meant to readers.
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.
