In these memoirs, written before her death in 1989, the acclaimed author of The Group chronicles the breakup of her first marriage, her move to Greenwich Village, and the checkered beginnings of her literary career. Captures McCarthy in the act of becoming a writer--and a literary personality.

In these memoirs, written before her death in 1989, the acclaimed author of The Group chronicles the breakup of her first marriage, her move to Greenwich Village, and the checkered beginnings of her literary career. Captures McCarthy in the act of becoming a writer--and a literary personality.

Mary McCarthy vividly recalls her early years in New York before she began writing novels and stories. At that time, she wrote reviews for the Nation and the New Republic, was active in the American Communist Party, and was married to activist actor/playwright Harold Johnsrud. * Foreword by Elizabeth Hardwick.*