mary maclane: the ‘wild woman of butte’

this week, melville house is publishing “I Await the Devil’s Coming” by Mary MacLane. MacLane’s memoir was first published back in 1902, and became a sensational hit. MacLane, herself, was nineteen years old, born and raised in butte, montana and, if this excerpt (via book bench) is any evidence, damned witty too:

The more I see of conventionality, it seems, the more I am odd.

Though I am young and feminine—very feminine—yet I am not that quaint conceit, a girl: the sort of person that Laura E. Richards writes about, and Nora Perry, and Louisa M. Alcott,—girls with bright eyes, and with charming faces (they always have charming faces), standing with reluctant feet where the brook and river meet,—and all that sort of thing.

I missed all that.

. . . . 

And then, usually, if one is not a girl one is a heroine—of the kind you read about. But I am not a heroine, either. A heroine is beautiful—eyes like the sea shoot opaque glances from under drooping lids—walks with undulating movements, her bright smile haunts one still, falls methodically in love with a man—always with a man, eats things (they are always called “viands”) with a delicate appetite, and on special occasions her voice is full of tears. I do none of these things. I am not beautiful. I do not walk with undulating movements—indeed, I have never seen any one walk so, except, perhaps, a cow that has been overfed. My bright smile haunts no one. I shoot no opaque glances from my eyes, which are not like the sea by any means. I have never eaten any viands, and my appetite for what I do eat is most excellent. And my voice has never yet, to my knowledge, been full of tears.

No, I am not a heroine.

There never seem to be any plain heroines, except Jane Eyre, and she was very unsatisfactory. She should have entered into marriage with her beloved Rochester in the first place. I should have, let there be a dozen mad wives upstairs. But I suppose the author thought she must give her heroine some desirable thing—high moral principles, since she was not beautiful. Some people say that beauty is a curse. It may be true, but I’m sure I should not have at all minded being cursed a little. And I know several persons who might well say the same. But, anyway, I wish some one would write a book about a plain, bad heroine so that I might feel in real sympathy with her.

_________

sadly, this is the first i‘d ever heard of MacLane. talk about a serious gap in my education, people! wikipedia tells me that MacLane not only helped usher in the confessional style of autobiographical writing (a favorite genere of mine – David Sedaris, i‘m looking at you), but was also an openly bi-sexual feminist. say what?! well, whatever. say no more. it’s already on my amazon wishlist.

 

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shadow and bone: how to dress warm & still read like a badass

i read Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo a while back, and thought it was pretty damn good. ya writers are just killing it in the world-building arena these days. if you’re not a ya reader (don’t worry, i won’t judge) and you want to see some serious creativity on display, you should take thy butt to a bookstore and browse the ya section (or, at least look it up on amazon).

if it matters to you, there are no vampires and no werewolves in Shadow and Bone. it’s not even set in a dystopian future. in fact, the setting’s inspired by, of all things, tsarist russia, and how many times have you read that? there may be a couple of romantic interests, but before you roll your i-can’t-take-another-love-triangle eyes, trust me – that’s not exactly what happens here. #spoilerlipssealed

and really, just go ahead and hop on the bandwagon now, because a movie – it’s happening. brought to you by the same producer and studio who brought you (cue dramatic music…) Harry Potter. so yeah. really. you’re probably going to read it eventually anyway. do it now and just get it out of the way.

anyway, while scouring the internet for more information about Shadow and Bone, i found a fan magazine cover that was done by author Jennifer Alter, who’s apparently  a friend of Bardugo’s, and thought i’d share. ladies and gents, the darkling:

or

they aren’t anywhere close to casting for this movie yet. but when they do, they should get an actor who looks like this guy (or “guys.” i can’t tell if that’s the same person or not).

i also thought this was a pretty decent book trailer, and i usually hate book trailers:

bonus track: leigh bardugo discussing her favorite fictional worlds:

psa: started early, lost my book

public service announcement: i lost my book.

description: Started Early, Took My Dog, by Kate Atkinson. Soft cover. Green and yellow hues. Woman with a green umbrella. no dog.

Bookmark: Southwest boarding pass from Chicago  to Baltimore (i think)

last seen: well, in my bag really. but i think i removed it to dig for something. possibly during Bookish Guy’s mom’s wedding (anniversary: Nov. 22). i don’t remember taking it out. but i absolutely never leave the house without a book. wedding or no. and i was completely bookless that evening. all i had in my bag was my wristlet/wallet, my house keys, a couple of disposable contact lenses, my phone, chapstick, a few crumpled receipts, and a spattering of crumbs. (obviously whatever i was searching for was monumentally important)

further notes: dagnamit. my book. my precious. well, okay i wasn’t married to the darn thing. as evidenced by the fact that i’m not now, as we speak, buying a replacement copy. i mean, i was enjoying it. but not as much as i’d hoped. i still think Case Histories was the best Brodie book. this one seemed to be missing the spark and excitement of CH. the characters weren’t dreadfully boring, but they weren’t very exciting either.

still. my book. if you see it, let me know. but feel free to read it before you do. i won’t be replacing it anytime soon. and hell, you might even enjoy it more than i was. though, if possible please try to save my place.

p.s. favorite part of the novel: jackson sucker-punching a guy abusing a small dog. total bad-assery.