Kay Boyle Summary

One of the larger ironies of the renewed interest in the American expatriate movement of the twenties and thirties is the relative obscurity of one of the period's most important and prolific contribu... Read more

Kay Boyle's poetry is often relegated to a minor footnote in her distinguished literary career, for she is better known for her fiction, which includes fourteen novels and ten short story collections.... Read more

In the following review of Wedding Day and Other Stories, the critic argues that Boyle is at her best when she combines experimentation with structure. These short stories and five-finger exercises by... Read more

In the following review of Words that Must Somehow be Said, D'Evelyn claims the book is a valuable record of the twentieth century as Boyle recounts her life experiences artfully and with skill... Read more

In the following interview, filmmaker Kelley Baker talks to famous social historian and radio personality Studs Terkel about his personal recollections of Boyle. Edited in consultation with Studs Terk... Read more

In the following essay, Hatlen reconsiders Death of a Man from a feminist perspective in an attempt to explain why the novel has been misinterpreted as Pro-Nazi. When Kay Boyle's Death of a Man... Read more

In the following essay, Bell argues that Boyle's essays are proof of Boyle's conviction that writers must be a voice of consciousness and accountability. Noted as a stylist and awarded d... Read more

In the following essay Hollenberg compares the conflicted views on maternity of American writers H. D. and Boyle. In memoirs written later in life, when they were self-assured, H. D. and Kay Boyle spe... Read more

In the following review which compares Gentlemen, I Address You Privately with Jack Conroy's The Disinherited, Cantwell concludes that Boyle's writing suffers from isolation and unrealis... Read more

In the following review of Death of a Man, Kazin suggests that while Boyle's sense of style is successful, she fails in her narrative. It is some time now since a reviewer was moved to write, c... Read more

In the following review, Hauser praises Primer for Combat as a powerful portrayal of France in 1940 under Nazi rule. Last year, after nearly two decades in Europe, Kay Boyle returned to America. Prime... Read more

In the following review of Generation Without Farewell, Peterson, a radio commentator and critic, credits Boyle with creating a profound account of postwar Germany which reflects the conditions from m... Read more

Critical Essay by Edmund Wilson I picked up Kay Boyle's Avalanche in the hope of finding a novel worth reading, and have been somewhat taken aback to get nothing but a piece of pure rubbish. As... Read more

Critical Essay by Nathan L. Rothman In writing about a book by Kay Boyle, who is one of the shrewdest stylists in the language and something of a mystic no matter what material she makes momentary use... Read more

Critical Essay by Robert E. Knoll [Unlike] some of her contemporaries Miss Boyle's emotions do not turn inward, feeding on themselves; and she is not the object of her own speculation. Rather, ... Read more

Critical Essay by Earl Rovit This selection of Kay Boyle's short fiction [Fifty Stories] spans almost forty years of work and is itself only the sparest sampling of her total literary productio... Read more