Book Thirtytwo: The Group

The Group, Mary McCarthy



I finished this over a week ago while I was out in New England and Canada for a little vacation, but it's taken me a while to settle back in at home enough to write anything at all about this book (never mind getting through my next book). However, that shouldn't diminish the fact that it totally rules! I love these kinds of books, that encapsulate a time and feeling so perfectly (how long has it been since I mentioned The Dud Avocado?). The book is about a group of eight friends who are graduates of Vassar, class of '33, and follows each member of the group after graduation. I loved how it flowed from one woman to the next so easily. There are some unbelievably quaint and dated things here: the horrors of breastfeeding or the fact that undergoing psychoanalysis is an unspeakable embarrassment. There are also some really progressive issues addressed, too: homosexuality, premarital sex, extramarital affairs, and communism.

And now, onward! To the next 20 books!