Pentimento (Back Bay Books)
by Lillian Hellman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lillian HellmanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-03-29
ISBN: 0316352888
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Back Bay Books
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Book Reviews of Pentimento (Back Bay Books)
Book Review: The Infamous Miss Hellman
Summary: 5 Stars
Lillian Hellman's PENTIMENTO, A loose collection of autobiographical essays and stories, has been both controversial and famous, and very specifically so for "Julia." In this particular tale, Hellman describes her attempt to aid a friend by smuggling money to support anti-Nazi efforts in 1930s Germany--and subsequently finding herself unable to protect Julia from the ferocity of the Nazi machine. Powerfully written, it is the centerpiece of the book, and in 1977 was adapted into a very popular and much-praised film starring Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave.
It was at this point, however, that controversy arose. The film caught the attention of Muriel Gardner, who promptly asserted that she was 'Julia' and the story itself was significantly based on her own life and work in pre-World War II Germany. She also stated that she had never met Lillian Hellman--but it transpired that she and Hellman had at one time shared the same attorney, who was well aware of her past and who could have described it to Hellman.
Hellman flatly stated that Gardner was not 'Julia' and insisted that the story, while altered re details and circumstances to protect the identities of those involved, was indeed factual. As more details of Gardner's life came to light, however, it seemed increasingly likely that Hellman had indeed made use of it in creating the story, and the dispute continues to provoke strong feelings even some thirty years after the deaths of both Hellman and Gardner.
It was not the first time Hellman had been accused of literary fraud and it would not be last. During her long love affair with novelist Dashiell Hammett, Hellman was frequently accused of draining his ideas to further her own work. In 1979 writer and critic Mary McCarthy prompted a suit for slander when she described Hellman's work by saying "every word she writes is a lie, and that includes 'and' and 'the!'" But regardless of how Hellman came by her ideas, there is no getting around the fact that she had the gift: at her best, she was the equal of the best of the best, turning out several masterpiece dramas and three autobiographical works that jolted best seller lists from end of the country to the other.
PENTIMENTO is the second of these autobiographies, published in 1973 between the equally famous UNFINISHED WOMAN (1969) and SCOUNDREL TIME (1976.) And although "Julia" remains the most famous--or perhaps most infamous--work in the collection, Hellman is actually at her finest in the other stories she tells, most particularly those that center on her childhood home of New Orleans.
In both these writings and others, Hellman shows a remarkable gift for capturing place, time, and character, zeroing in on her New Orleans family, her lover Hammett, and the legendary Tallulah Bankhead to name but a few. From the lunacy of personalizing condoms in Hollywood to the drunken jitters of opening night on Broadway, Hellman makes you see it, feel it, touch it, taste it. It is a brilliant accomplishment--and if you suspect that the stories on which she hangs these talents are at best misrecalled, at worst deliberate falsifications--is this not, after all, what we demand that writers do? Recast reality in order to spin a good story? Strongly recommended.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Summary of Pentimento (Back Bay Books)
In this widely praised follow-up to her National Book Award-winning first volume of memoirs, An Unfinished Woman, the legendary playwright Lillian Hellman looks back at some of the people who, wittingly or unwittingly, exerted profound influence on her development as a woman and a writer. The portraits include Hellman's recollection of a lifelong friendship that began in childhood, reminiscences that formed the basis of the Academy Award-winning film Julia.Authors Books
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