Forty-One False Starts: Essays on Artists and Writers

Forty-One False Starts is a collection of essays from veteran New Yorker writer Janet Malcolm, focused on profiling artists and writers. The title essay attempts to begin a profile of artist David Salle forty-one different ways, creating a fractured portrait that mirrors both Salle's own artistic style and the challenges of capturing any subject in words. The collection spans several decades of Malcolm's work and includes pieces on photography, painting, literature, and biography. Her subjects range from the photographers Julia Margaret Cameron and Thomas Struth to the writers J.D. Salinger, Virginia Woolf, and Gene Stratton-Porter. Malcolm examines the relationship between artists and their work, critics and their subjects, and writers and their sources. Through interviews, observations, and analysis, she constructs profiles that resist simple narratives while maintaining journalistic precision. The essays collectively explore questions of truth in art and journalism, the impossibility of objective biography, and the complex dynamics between observers and observed. Malcolm's approach demonstrates how the form of writing itself can serve as commentary on its subject.

Readers value Malcolm's sharp analysis and intellectual rigor, particularly in the title essay about artist David Salle and the portrait of the Bloomsbury family. Many note her meticulous research and ability to reveal new dimensions of familiar subjects. Common praise focuses on: - Clear, precise writing style - Original insights into artistic process - Depth of cultural criticism - Complex character studies Main criticisms: - Some essays feel dated or require prior knowledge - Uneven quality across the collection - Too academic/detached for casual readers - Several readers found the J.D. Salinger essay repetitive Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (1,100+ ratings) Amazon: 4.2/5 (80+ ratings) Representative review: "Malcolm excels at getting to the heart of artistic creation and creative personalities, but some pieces assume too much background knowledge." - Goodreads reviewer Multiple readers note the book works best for those already familiar with the subjects and Malcolm's journalistic style.

The Art of the Personal Essay by Phillip Lopate This collection presents essays about art, culture, and human nature through a combination of critical analysis and personal reflection.

Portrait of an Artist by Virginia Woolf Through interconnected essays and observations, Woolf examines the lives of artists and writers while exploring the relationship between creativity and identity.

Ways of Seeing by John Berger These essays investigate how visual art shapes cultural understanding and social consciousness through historical and contemporary perspectives.

The White Album by Joan Didion Didion's collection combines cultural criticism with personal narrative to examine art, politics, and society in late 20th century America.

Still Looking: Essays on American Art by John Updike These essays merge art criticism with historical context to illuminate the works of American painters and photographers from the 19th and 20th centuries.

🖋️ Janet Malcolm's title essay, "Forty-One False Starts," consists of 41 different attempts to begin a profile of artist David Salle, reflecting the challenge of capturing complex subjects in writing. 📚 Malcolm was known for her controversial opening line in "The Journalist and the Murderer": "Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible." 🎨 The book includes an essay about the Bloomsbury Group that Malcolm composed entirely of quotations from other sources, creating a literary collage that mirrors the group's artistic style. 📝 Before becoming a renowned writer for The New Yorker, Malcolm began her career as a children's book columnist for The New Yorker's "Onward and Upward with the Arts" department. 🖼️ Malcolm's examination of photographer Thomas Struth's work in the book reveals her own background in photography – she studied at the High School of Music & Art in New York and maintained a lifelong interest in visual arts.