Book Review: Sharp by Michelle Dean

I am fascinated by the “early” woman thinkers – those women who developed a reputation for intellectual rigor and originality in a time (the early 1900s) when such domains were considered the exclusive property of men. I was familiar with nearly all of the phenomenally talented women in this collection – some more than others – but had no idea of the details of most of their lives, and was fascinated to see how the developed intellectually, creatively, and in their perspectives toward art, politics, and their place in the world.

The more contemporary women were also quite interesting to read about (Nora Ephron has long been a favorite of mine, going back to Heartburn), but I think the most intriguing (and surprising – although in hindsight perhaps it shouldn’t have been so surpisinng) part of the entire collection for me was reading about the clashes between so many of the women. I suppose it was inevitable – these were women stepping outside of the gender norms of the time, women who expressed strong opinions and did so with flair and sass and more than a few teeth. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that they would butt heads with people – their contemporaries as well as their “opposition”. The details were entertaining and often quite unexpected, and thoroughly enjoyable to read.

This was an exceptionally written and thoroughly well-presented collection and I really enjoyed it!

My review copy was generously provided by Edelweiss.