Too Smart to Be Sentimental

Contemporary Irish American Women Writers

Sally Barr Ebest, Kathleen McInerney, Sally Barr Ebest, Kathleen McInerney

• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
• Year: 2008
• ISBN:
  9780268078621
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism for Women Authors
• Index: Literature

In a series of critical and biographical essays, Too Smart to Be Sentimental offers a feminist literary history of twentieth-century Irish America. This collection introduces the reader to the works of twelve contemporary Irish American women writers, some of whom are well known, such as Joyce Carol Oates, Alice McDermott, and Tess Gallagher, and some of whom are equally deserving of recognition.

Each chapter focuses on a particular writer, describes and discusses that writer's most important works, contextualizes the discussion with relevant biographical material, and highlights why the writer is representative of the Irish American literary tradition. Too Smart to Be Sentimental —the first critical study of contemporary Irish American women authors—will be invaluable to students and scholars of Irish studies and Irish American literature.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Writing Green Thoughts
• WOMEN IN IRISH AMERICAN SOCIETY
• RELIGION AND ETHICS
• ORAL TRADITIONS
• SEXUALITY
• FEMINISM, CULTURE, AND CRITIQUE
• About the Contributors
• Index