Partisans: Marriage, Politics, and Betrayal Among the New York Intellectuals

Partisans chronicles the lives of several prominent New York intellectuals in the mid-20th century, with a focus on Mary McCarthy, Hannah Arendt, Elizabeth Hardwick, and Jean Stafford. The book examines their marriages, literary careers, and complex web of relationships within the competitive New York literary scene. The narrative follows these women through their rise to prominence as writers and critics, their romantic entanglements with fellow intellectuals like Edmund Wilson and Robert Lowell, and their navigation of gender politics in the publishing world. Their story intersects with major historical events including World War II, McCarthyism, and the transformation of American literary culture. The book reveals both the personal and professional dimensions of intellectual life in this pivotal period, examining how marriage, ambition, and rivalry shaped some of the era's most important literary works. Through these intertwined stories, Laskin explores larger questions about the relationship between art and life, the costs of ambition, and the particular challenges faced by women in the male-dominated intellectual circles of the time.

Readers found the book offers detailed insights into the personal relationships and dynamics between New York intellectuals of the 1930s-1960s. Many noted the author's thorough research into the marriages, affairs, and professional rivalries among figures like Mary McCarthy, Edmund Wilson, and Philip Rahv. Liked: - Clear portrayal of how politics affected personal relationships - Inclusion of lesser-known figures in the intellectual circle - Balance of biographical detail and cultural context Disliked: - Some felt the narrative jumped between characters too frequently - Several readers wanted more analysis of the subjects' writing/work - A few found the tone gossipy rather than scholarly Ratings: Goodreads: 3.8/5 (164 ratings) Amazon: 4.1/5 (21 reviews) One reader on Goodreads wrote: "Strong on personal details but light on intellectual history." An Amazon reviewer noted: "Reads like a soap opera of the literary world, but backed by solid research."

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🔹 The "New York Intellectuals" featured in the book were centered around the Partisan Review magazine, which began as a Communist publication but later became staunchly anti-Stalinist while maintaining its left-wing cultural focus. 🔹 Author David Laskin is also known for writing "The Children's Blizzard," which chronicles the devastating 1888 blizzard that killed more than 200 people across the American prairie, including many schoolchildren. 🔹 Mary McCarthy, one of the key figures in the book, famously said about fellow writer Lillian Hellman: "Every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the.'" This led to a notorious libel suit. 🔹 Despite their progressive politics, many of the male intellectuals profiled in the book maintained traditional, often patriarchal relationships with their wives, creating a striking contradiction between their public and private lives. 🔹 The book reveals how Hannah Arendt, who wrote extensively about totalitarianism and the banality of evil, maintained a complicated friendship with philosopher Martin Heidegger despite his connections to the Nazi Party.