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Human Relations and Other Difficulties: Essays
An incisive collection of essays by the editor of the London Review of Books, whom Hilary Mantel has called “a presiding genius”
Mary-Kay Wilmers cofounded the London Review of Books in 1979, and has been its sole editor since 1992. Her editorial life began long before that: she started at Faber and Faber in the time of T. S. Eliot, then worked at the Listener, and then at the Times Literary Supplement. As John Lanchester says in his introduction, she has been extracting literary works from reluctant writers for more than fifty years.
As well as an editor, Mary-Kay Wilmers is, and has been throughout her career, a writer. The deeply considered pieces in Human Relations and Other Difficulties, whether on Jean Rhys, Alice James, a nineteenth-century edition of the Pears’ Cyclopaedia, novel reviewing, Joan Didion, mistresses, seduction, or her own experience of parenthood, are sparkling, funny, and absorbing.
Underlying all these essays is a concern with the relation between the genders: the effect men have on women, and the ways in which men limit and frame women’s lives. Wilmers holds these patterns up to cool scrutiny, and gives a crisp and sometimes cutting insight into the hard work of being a woman.
Mary-Kay Wilmers cofounded the London Review of Books in 1979, and has been its sole editor since 1992. Her editorial life began long before that: she started at Faber and Faber in the time of T. S. Eliot, then worked at the Listener, and then at the Times Literary Supplement. As John Lanchester says in his introduction, she has been extracting literary works from reluctant writers for more than fifty years.
As well as an editor, Mary-Kay Wilmers is, and has been throughout her career, a writer. The deeply considered pieces in Human Relations and Other Difficulties, whether on Jean Rhys, Alice James, a nineteenth-century edition of the Pears’ Cyclopaedia, novel reviewing, Joan Didion, mistresses, seduction, or her own experience of parenthood, are sparkling, funny, and absorbing.
Underlying all these essays is a concern with the relation between the genders: the effect men have on women, and the ways in which men limit and frame women’s lives. Wilmers holds these patterns up to cool scrutiny, and gives a crisp and sometimes cutting insight into the hard work of being a woman.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published July 12, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 21, 2023
Subtle, subversive, stunningly erudite. Wish I would have paid much more attention to Mary-Kay Wilmers throughout her career.
November 7, 2019
Read a few reviews of this book and was intrigued. Thought I was in the mood for non-fiction essays that were clever and entertaining after reading several "heavy" novels, so was looking forward to reading some witty and well-written observations. These are the kind of pieces you'd read in the New Yorker, a variety of topics and very detailed. (And some were published in that revered magazine). But I found them to start out clever and then become tedious. The best thing I read was the introduction. I thought I'd really enjoy "The Language of Novel Reviewing" but even this didn't hold my interest. I guess this just isn't my cup of tea.
January 12, 2020
something kept me going, as i did finish it, but for the most part it was boring and inaccessible from my p.o.v. really uneven -- for each essay I enjoyed and learned something from [the one on Joan Didion and the one on psychoanalysis stood out], there were at least 3 that i couldn't remember the point of as soon as I finished it. Lots of book reviews of books I wouldn't want to read, etc.
I like the essay form, and the title is kind of catchy, so I guess that is why it caught my eye on shelf at the library, but I wouldn't recommend it to myself if the choice were to come up again.
I like the essay form, and the title is kind of catchy, so I guess that is why it caught my eye on shelf at the library, but I wouldn't recommend it to myself if the choice were to come up again.
January 3, 2020
Collection of essays that seemed so promising but, for me at least, didn't deliver. For instance, the piece on obituaries and how style--what's included, what's emphasized-- has changed over time piqued my interest, but the exposition was tedious. Similarly, the other few essays I read had the same effect.
Not my cup of tea. I gave up on it.
Not my cup of tea. I gave up on it.
September 16, 2019
Quirky and witty in a very British way. What else would you expect from the woman who's the editor of the London Review of Books?
October 29, 2019
Fabulous essay collection.
December 10, 2019
Clever and witty as only the British can be.
April 30, 2020
Mixed collection of essays by the LRB founder or early editor. Some were great, some a bit of a chore to get through.
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November 8, 2021I chose to only read the pieces I was interested in.
April 19, 2023
when it hit it hit but it only hit occasionally. it wants a stronger editorial pov
December 18, 2024
great title and cover art, but overall underwhelming content. sometimes u rlly can’t judge a book by its cover fr
June 11, 2021
This was exceptional. LRB co-founder and editor Wilmers, because of her somewhat taxing day job, has had a limited output, so this collection draws together her somewhat disparate writings. She always has something very worthwhile to say and says it very very well.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews