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A review by lagerlout
The Group by Mary McCarthy
4.0
The copy I read of this book had an introduction by [a:Candace Bushnell|4415|Candace Bushnell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1435063350p2/4415.jpg] of [b:Sex and the City|7455|Sex and the City|Candace Bushnell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344270731l/7455._SY75_.jpg|3297002] fame. It was the perfect person to intro and the perfect headspace to be in to read this bombshell of a novel.
As a Sex and the City tragic I see so much of [b:The Group|387348|The Group|Mary McCarthy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545419472l/387348._SX50_.jpg|1496165] in the women of Bushnell's New York. They talk frankly and openly about difficult topics of the day. They rally behind each other through difficult marriages, childbirth and divorces. They squabble and bicker with each other, but mostly from a place of love. And most of all, they put up with a litany of the most wretched, self-righteous, vain and spiteful men to ever be put on the page.
What was most refreshing was how modern a book that was published in the late 60s felt more than 50 years later. I can't remember the last time I have read a book that devotes pages and pages to women trying to wrap their heads around the best contraception to use. The discomfort and shame of discussing your sex life with a doctor has not lessened in 50 years. Further pages were dedicated to the pros and cons of breast feeding or bottle feeding and how everyone has an opinion on what women should do with their bodies and how they should be mothers. If anything, the debate around this has only gotten fiercer and more public.
I throughly enjoyed my time with this group of women who were often ill-prepared for the lives they thought they should be leading and I'm so glad women have Mary McCarthy to write bold truths and clever insight into the messy business of being female.
As a Sex and the City tragic I see so much of [b:The Group|387348|The Group|Mary McCarthy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545419472l/387348._SX50_.jpg|1496165] in the women of Bushnell's New York. They talk frankly and openly about difficult topics of the day. They rally behind each other through difficult marriages, childbirth and divorces. They squabble and bicker with each other, but mostly from a place of love. And most of all, they put up with a litany of the most wretched, self-righteous, vain and spiteful men to ever be put on the page.
What was most refreshing was how modern a book that was published in the late 60s felt more than 50 years later. I can't remember the last time I have read a book that devotes pages and pages to women trying to wrap their heads around the best contraception to use. The discomfort and shame of discussing your sex life with a doctor has not lessened in 50 years. Further pages were dedicated to the pros and cons of breast feeding or bottle feeding and how everyone has an opinion on what women should do with their bodies and how they should be mothers. If anything, the debate around this has only gotten fiercer and more public.
I throughly enjoyed my time with this group of women who were often ill-prepared for the lives they thought they should be leading and I'm so glad women have Mary McCarthy to write bold truths and clever insight into the messy business of being female.