A lot of people spent the last eight Sunday Nights watching Ryan Murphy’s TV series, Feud, and I think I know why. First, it was a quality product: well-written, acted, edited and produced. It was also an intriguing story about well-known people in a fascinating industry. My mom, with her collection of books on the Golden Age of Hollywood, would have raved about this series, either praising or vilifying it to High Heaven. But, mostly I think the title explained why people tuned in Sunday after Sunday and can’t wait for the next season: everyone loves to watch a good fight, and the nastier it gets, the better. In case you are experiencing Feud-withdrawal, and you like a battle of wits, may I suggest Literary Feuds: A Century of Celebrated Quarrels? Trust me, when it comes to insecurity and ugly behavior in public, writers are pugilists with words. Take one of my favorite battles in the book, the one between Lillian Hellman and Mary McCarthy. You could argue these two, like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, might have made better allies than enemies. As creative writers, political liberals, and women succeeding in fields still dominated by men they would have profited from…
I’m a big believer in role models. While we are growing up, we emulate the behavior of those we admire, hoping we’ll be admirable too. Eventually we sort our our own priorities and personalities but until then, it helps to have someone to follow. Given all that, I probably could have picked a better person to imitate than Lillian Hellman. For one thing, Lillian Hellman was a professional dramatist and I don’t like her plays. As dramatic vehicles they are “theatrical” pieces where characters quiver, thunder or plot but rarely come to any realizations and the plays are aging as well as my old Earth Shoes. In other words, not. So Lillian’s plays are out. Her integrity was attacked often and well, most notably when Mary McCarthy said, “Every word she writes is a lie—including ‘and’ and ‘the.’” Those who tracked down the details suggest there’s some exaggeration in Miss Mary’s statement but not enough to acquit Miss Lillian. So she wasn’t a good example there either. Nevertheless, I was looking for a unique voice and shimmering images of words when I found Lillian Hellman’s An Unfinished Woman. One role model, made to order. An Unfinished Woman was popular around the…