Writing in an Age of Silence [Hardcover]

Sara Paretsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 2007

NBCC-nominated exploration of a writer’s search for her voice, by the bestselling author of the V. I. Warshawski novels.

In Writing in an Age of Silence, Sara Paretsky explores the traditions of political and literary dissent that have informed her life and work, against the unparalleled repression of free speech and thought in the USA today.

In tracing the writer's difficult journey from silence to speech, Paretsky turns to her childhood youth in rural Kansas, and brilliantly evokes Chicago—the city with which she has become indelibly associated—from her arrival during the civil-rights struggle in the mid-1960s to her most extraordinary literary creation, the south-side detective V I Warshawski. Paretsky traces the emergence of V I Warshawski from the shadows of the loner detectives that stalk the mean streets of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler's novels, and in the process explores American individualism, the failure of the American dream and the resulting dystopia.

Both memoir and meditation, Writing in an Age of Silence is a beautiful, compelling exploration of the writer's art and daunting responsibility in the face of the assault on US civil liberties post-9/11.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this brief, potent memoir, bestselling novelist Paretsky (Fire Sale) proves as sharp and straight shooting as V.I. Warshawski, the female private investigator she's made famous in 12 novels. Carefully sketching her conjoined lives as an artist and activist who cut her political teeth on the civil rights and feminist movements of the 1960s, she paints a moving portrait of herself as an engaged intellectual looking to make a substantive and life-affirming mark on society. Paretsky can be pointed in recollecting childhood influences—including Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, and her realization that the only woman writer taught in school was named "George"—and how they play into silences faced now by writers and citizens. Paretsky is also passionate about the religious right and the Patriot Act, but her views on how the current administration treats women's sexual and reproductive freedoms are among the most powerful. "The junior Mr. Bush has given free rein to corporate venality," she asserts, " but he is adamant about controlling the sexual behavior of women both at home and abroad. Little girls, you must get Daddy's permission for what you want to do in the privacy of your bedroom." Paretsky's informed views illuminate her fiction and add dimension to discussions of the political responsibilities of the artist. (May)
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From Booklist

Fans of Paretsky's V. I. Warshawski series won't be surprised by her passion for social justice--in each novel, the sleuth tackles a political or social issue in addition to the crime at hand--and they're not likely to blame her for wanting to put the issues front and center. Despite having a popular series as a soapbox, Paretsky has much more to say. Derived from speeches and essays given and published elsewhere (an early version of chapter 5, "Truth, Lies, and Duct Tape," appeared in Booklist as "Writing, Speech, and Silence"), this slim volume covers a lot of ground: early lack of encouragement; participation in the civil-rights movement in Chicago; women's liberation and the origins of V. I. Warshawski; the social relevance of crime fiction; and the forces, from corporate enterprise to government censorship, conspiring to silence meaningful free speech. Written with graceful economy,Writing in an Age of Silence is an urgent cry for dissent and a powerful reminder that liberties taken for granted may someday not be granted at all. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 138 pages
• Publisher: Verso; First Edition edition (May 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844671224
• ISBN-13: 978-1844671229
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,059,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sara Paretsky is the award-winning creator of the V I Warshawski detective novels. When Sara introduced V I in Indemnity Only in 1982, she revolutionized the mystery novel. By creating a female investigator who uses her wits as well a her fists, Sara challenged a genre in which women were traditionally either vamps or victims.

V I is the quintessential urban woman. She grew up in the shadow of the old steel mills on Chicago's Southeast side and knows her way around every alley in town. She's a street fighter, a singer, a bit of a clothes horse, and a woman of great intensity and passion.

So how much like V I is her creator? They certainly come from very different places. Sara grew up in rural Kansas where she attended a two-room school. She continues to believe the high point of her life came at the age of twelve when she was picked to play third base for the Kaw Valley District 95 baseball team.

Bleeding Kansas, Sara's 14th novel, is set in the part of the Kaw River Valley where Sara grew up.

Sara first came to Chicago in 1966 to do community service work in the same neighborhood where Martin Luther King was organizing. It was a time of fierce passions in the city and in the country as people fought over racial justice, the rights and wrongs of the war in Vietnam, and women's rights. Sara has always felt that that summer changed her life forever, and when she finished her undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas, she came back to make Chicago her home. Some of the history of that summer is recounted in her essay collection, Writing in an Age of Silence.

Like V I, Sara likes to sing, in an amateur way, has a hopeless passion for the Cubs, loves Italian shoes'and is obsessed by the search for the perfect cappuccino, so much so that she even went to cappuccino school.

In other academic ventures, Sara received a PhD in American History and an MBA from the University of Chicago. In 1976, she married physics professor Courtenay Wright. The two live in the city of Chicago with their wonder dog Callie. Their lives are made brighter by their adored granddaughter, Maia.

Sara shares V I's passion for social justice. She founded Sisters in Crime in 1986 to support women readers and writers in the mystery world. To give back to the community, Paretsky established the Sara and Two C-Dogs Foundation, which primarily supports girls and women in the arts, letters, and sciences. She has endowed several scholarships at the University of Kansas, and has mentored students in Chicago's inner city schools. She serves on the advisory boards of Literature for All of Us, a literacy group for teen moms, and Thresholds, which serves Chicago's mentally-ill homeless.

Sara has received numerous awards, including the Diamond Dagger for Lifetime achievement from the British Crime Writers Association, the Gold Dagger for best novel for her book Blacklist, and the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from several different universities. Sara's books have been translated into almost thirty languages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gritty Life of a Writer of Gritty Mysteries, July 28, 2007

By 

Dr Cathy Goodwin (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Writing in an Age of Silence (Hardcover)

It's hard to say I enjoyed this book, because it's not about fun. I can't even recall a touch of humor. The author makes no effort to engage her audience, beyond high quality writing and an emotional intensity that rises from each page.

Paretsky's title covers both her childhood background and her reaction to living in George Bush's America.

As a child, Paretsky received nothing but discouragement and put-downs from her parents and siblings. Yet she and her brothers all turned out not just well, but outstandingly. All have graduate degrees (Paretsky herself has a PhD in American history) and have done well. It would be interesting to ask a family therapist where this resilience came from.

Mystery fans will enjoy learning how Paretsky's life influenced the V. I. Warshawski series. Paretsky became influenced by classic detective writers while she was supposed to be studying for her American history degree. She deliberately created a female version of the hard boiled detective, drawing on settings she knew and real people in her own life.

Some reviewers didn't care for Paretsky's attack on contemporary America, but I got the feeling she was angry and determined to use the platform she holds as a prominent writer. She's always been a force for good (as were her parents and at least one grandparent).

Paretsky writes a great deal about the Patriot Act - a horrifying piece of legislation that apparently allows police to search and seize property - and people - without a warrant.

This discussion alone makes Paretsky's book would be worth reading. It's terrifying to read about a woman who (according to Paretsky) was arrested because her social security card listed her married name and her passport her maiden name (or vice versa).

Paretsky's discussion of women writers was an eye-opener for me: I had no idea that women writers had to fight for reviews and publication. Today we take for granted the best-sellers by Marcia Muller, J. A. Jance, Sue Grafton and Paretsky herself. I wish she had written more about founding Sisters in Crime and about her relationship with some other writers.

I disagreed only when Paretsky claims (p. 76) that prominent women - Condoleeza Rice, Carly Fiorina, Katie Couric - are thin because they want to "disappear." In fact, it is hard for a woman to achieve prominence unless she is attractive. Being attractive means being slim, even thin. Madeleine Albright was exceptional. But media like to feature attractive women, making them even more prominent. Would Carly Fiorina have gotten as far as she did if she were heavier and less attractive? We will never know.

Paretsky has given us some rare insights into the way she experiences life, past and present. She expresses the helplessness and frustration so many Americans feel - a sense of returning to McCarthyism and worse. The last few pages are lyrical and strong without slipping into sentiment.

It's not a comfortable read, but the book will be hard to forget, well written and not nearly long enough. It's hard to say I enjoyed this book, because it's not about fun. I can't even recall a touch of humor. The author makes no effort to engage her audience, beyond high quality writing and an emotional intensity that rises from each page.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!, August 4, 2007

By 

J. Holtz (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Writing in an Age of Silence (Hardcover)

It's rare that I'm impressed sufficiently by a book to contact the author, but "Writing in an Age of Silence" is such a book. As a Chicago native who lived in Kansas for many years, I was awed by Paretsky's ability to finely convey both areas so well, positioning both within her own formative experiences. Fans of V.I. Warshawski know that Paretsky has a wickedly sharp, funny pen, but here she turns that talent inward.

One caveat: those not familiar with Paretsy's other work might experience "Writing in an Age of Silence" differently, of course. In that case, I encourage you to read more of her work so that you can get a better sense of her voice. She's a remarkable writer, regardless of genre.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Thinking Person's Book, June 6, 2007

By 

Cathy Gibbons "woolf woman" (pismo beach,ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Writing in an Age of Silence (Hardcover)

Sara Paretsky writes not only of her life but of the world that dramatically affects women and men .One need not have read Paretsky's work to appreciate the clearly feminist views she expresses. But it is not fair to simply label her with one ideology.She is a woman who has cared deeply all her life for the disenfranchised; those disenfranchised by race,gender,religion.

I felt as if I were reading the work of my doppelganger;especially the kind of ideas I shared with my students in a single-sex school. This book is no place to find the "warm,fluffy" philosophy that women or African-Americans have maintained whatever progress the world attributes to the women's movement or the Civil Rights Act.Rather Paretsky gives factual information to the contrary.

This book is wonderfully,lucidly written. It should be read not only by those who already share her beliefs;but,more importantly by those who are brave enough to challenge their comfort zones.