by Elisabeth Pruitt (Editor), Michael R. Brown (Foreword by), Mary Maclane (Author)
With her first book - written in 1901, at age nineteen - she was hailed as a marvel by the likes of H.L. Mencken, Clarence Darrow, and Harriet Monroe. She went on to become a pioneering newswoman, gambler extraordinaire, bon vivant, and a star of the silent screen. She influenced Gertrude Stein, inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald, was puzzled over by Mark Twain, and upon her death in 1929 was eulogized as "an errant daughter of literature ... the first of the self-expressionists, and also the first of the Flappers," as the creator of "that revolution in manners, that transvaluation of values in the female code of behavior known as the Roaring Twenties." In this authoritative critical edition, the best of Mary MacLane returns to print. With the complete text of her striking first book (with all expurgated passages restored), a selection of her colorful newspaper feature articles, a full-length 1902 interview with the enigmatic author, notes, and a bibliography, Tender Darkness: A Mary MacLane Sampler reacquaints the reading public with a literary genius who took on the establishment - and won.
Author Biography
Mary MacLane (1881-1929) was a controversial Canadian-born American writer whose frank memoirs helped usher in the confessional style of autobiographical writing. She was known as the "Wild Woman of Butte". MacLane was a very popular author for her time, scandalizing the populace with her shocking bestselling first memoir and to a lesser extent her two following books. She was considered wild and uncontrolled, a reputation she nurtured, and was openly bisexual as well as a vocal feminist. In her writings, she compared herself to another frank young memoirist, Marie Bashkirtseff, who died a few years after MacLane was born, and H.L. Mencken called her, "the Butte Bashkirtseff." - from Wikipedia.com