Edith Wharton, Again

Un altro profilo - molto interessante anche nella scrittura e nell'organizzazione, non per caso l'autrice è Francine Prose - di Edith Wharton, della sua genialità, delle sue contraddizioni. "When Edith Wharton - then Edith Jones - was a little girl, her favorite game was called 'making up.' 'Making up' involved pacing around with an open book and (before she could read) inventing and then later half reading, half inventing stories about real people, narratives that she would chant very loud and very fast. The constant pacing and shouting were important parts of the game, which (according to Wharton's memoir, A Backward Glance) had an enraptured, trance-like, slightly erotic aspect. Her parents spied on her, and it made them nervous. Edith's Old New York, old-money-society mother tried to transcribe what Edith was saying, but she spoke too fast; Mrs. Jones's anxiety increased when Edith asked her to entertain children who came to play because she was too busy making up". nybooks.