Occasional Prose

Reading and romance, gardening tips, a farewell to a friend, even an opera retold make up this stellar collection from the bestselling author of The Group and Memories of a Catholic GirlhoodThis intriguing nonfiction collection by Mary McCarthy is a cornucopia of literary delights that challenges the mind and captivates the senses."On Rereading a Favorite Book" is McCarthy's reaction to returning to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina after more than thirty years. In "Politics and the Novel," she shatters a myth about the American versus European style of storytelling. Acts of reading, when consummated, a