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The Long-winded Lady: Notes from The New Yorker Paperback – February 9, 2016

by Maeve Brennan (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 97 ratings
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“Of all the incomparable stable of journalists who wrote for The New Yorker during its glory days in the Fifties and Sixties,” writes The Independent, “the most distinctive was Irish-born Maeve Brennan.” From 1954 to 1981, Maeve Brennan wrote for The New Yorker’s “Talk of the Town” column under the pen name “The Long-Winded Lady.” Her unforgettable sketches—prose snapshots of life in small restaurants, cheap hotels, and crowded streets of Times Square and the Village—together form a timeless, bittersweet tribute to what she called the “most reckless, most ambitious, most confused, most comical, the saddest and coldest and most human of cities.”

First published in 1969, The Long-Winded Lady is a celebration of one of The New Yorker’s finest writers at the height of her power. As contemporary culture revisits with new appreciation the pioneering female voices of the past century, Maeve Brennan remains a writer whose dazzling work continues to embolden a new generation.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Counterpoint
  4. Publication date
    February 9, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.7 x 8.1 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1619027119
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1619027114
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

PRAISE FOR THE LONG–WINDED LADY:

"This is another timely recommendation as a new edition of Irish–born, Maeve Brennan's short story collection The Springs of Affection has just been reprinted by the Dublin–based press Stinging Fly. I'd definitely urge readers to seek this out too, but personally I have a soft spot for her non–fiction. Between 1954 and 1968 Brennan supplied copy for the New Yorker's Talk of the Town section under the fabulous pen name ‘The Long–Winded Lady'. Her vignettes of Manhattan life combine the detachment of the flaneuse with the lived experience of her own street–dwelling subjects – especially poignant given Brennan became homeless towards the end of her life and lived out of the ladies' bathroom at the offices of the New Yorker." —BBC

"Of all the incomparable stable of journalists who wrote for The New Yorker during its glory days in the Fifties and Sixties—AJ Leibling, Joseph Mitchell, Lillian Ross and John McPhee are all worth seeking out—the most distinctive was Irish–born Maeve Brennan. Her keen–eyed observation of the minutiae of New York life has been compared to Turgenev, but a closer parallel is Edward Hopper... Anyone familiar with New York will enjoy a transporting jolt of recognition from these pages. Looking back from our own time, when it seems that every column has to be loaded with hectoring opinion and egotistical preening, Brennan's stylish scrutiny of minor embarrassments and small pleasures is as welcome as a Dry Martini."—The Independent

"Every piece in this collection is as precise and as surprising as ["A Young Man with a Menu"; anyone who loves New York, The New Yorker, or Maeve Brennan will savor The Long–Winded Lady."—Alix Wilber

PRAISE FOR MAEVE BRENNAN:

"[Brennan] has always been able to turn quite ordinary things into ‘moments of recognition…The accomplishment is formidable—something few writers attempt without sounding precise, dull, or both."—Time

"Maeve had a quickness of wit, a sharp tongue, and the gift of style… Bitter, dazzling, talented, tenderhearted, intractable Maeve!"—Brendan Gill

About the Author

Maeve Brennan left Ireland for American in 1934, when she was seventeen. In 1949, she joined the staff of The New Yorker, to which she contributed reviews, essays, and short stories. Her acclaimed works The Rose Garden, The Visitor, and The Springs of Affection are also available from Counterpoint. Maeve Brennan died in 1993 at the age of seventy–six.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Counterpoint; Reissue edition (February 9, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1619027119
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1619027114
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 97 ratings

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Maeve Brennan

Maeve Brennan

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
97 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kat G
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2022
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This collection of essays was absolutely stunning. The language and the observations brought mundane stories to life and made me fall in love with a city that I have never seen before.
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Usonian33
5.0 out of 5 stars A moment in time...with the details other observers overlooked.
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2018
Verified Purchase
Just pitch-perfect snapshots of a time and place...observations of very ordinary (but fascinating) things in NYC in the 50s and 60s, in a beguiling tone that anyone familiar with journalism from that era will immediately recognize. I was saddened to later read how Brennan's life ended...there is a definitely a note of loneliness in these essays...but they are marvelous to read. A must for those interested in NYC social history.

SIDENOTE...in one essay was delighted to read she was living at Beaux Arts Hotel....which is where I live now (it converted long ago to rental apts).
9 people found this helpful
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J. Jamakaya
4.0 out of 5 stars Good in Short Doses
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2012
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I looked forward to reading this collection of Brennan's New Yorker pieces but have mixed feelings about it. In dozens of short articles, Brennan acts as a sort of sophisticated voyeur, offering detailed observations about personal interactions in the restaurants, hotels, stores and streets of 1950's and 60's Manhattan. She's often perched nearby or gazing through a window witnessing lovers' quarrels, street protests, accidents, traffic patterns - both the drama and minutiae of city life.

There's no question Brennan has a keen eye and an ability to capture interesting details about the people she observes. She has a crisp, clear writing style that makes the stories engaging to read. I think, however, that these stories probably worked better as occasional reads in the New Yorker. Reading one after another in this collection, they started to seem monotonous. Brennan is very detached, never makes judgments about what she's witnessing, and we never learn what really happened or what ultimately happens to the people observed from afar. For me, it seemed like such ephemeral incidents resulted in ephemeral writing.

Writers I respect, like Emma Donoghue and Nicholson Baker, really admire Brennan, so I'm going to follow up at some point with one of her short story collections. She has a sharp mind and she's a good wordsmith. I look forward to seeing what she does with a little more character and plotting.
13 people found this helpful
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Leigh Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous writing - lyric and visual
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2017
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I loved reading this book, not only for inspiration as a writer, but as a tourist in a city I've never seen. Brennan brings the city to life not only as a place to be seen, but as a living and breathing organism with a definite personality and wild characters. This is one that will impact my work forever.
6 people found this helpful
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horace smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Not long winded. . .
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2016
Verified Purchase
But rather almost a saint of observation, wit, integrity to her senses, and always, despite her joy in New York, a sadness infusing the joy. I know no other writer who so weds us to precise scenes and people yet pervades all in a razor sharp combination of the particular and the universal
There is no writer to equal Maeve.
14 people found this helpful
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Alicia K
5.0 out of 5 stars astonishing
Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2018
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Maeve Brennan's writing is astonishing. Every sentence is crafted to perfection. These essays are meticulous descriptions of life in NYC during the 50s and 60s. One of my favorite books ever.
3 people found this helpful
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student of the craft
5.0 out of 5 stars Maeve, Maeve, Maeve
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2014
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This woman teaches you how to sit and observe. No other writer used her time so well and got so much out of such seemingly innocuous moments. Read this and learn to observe. And yes, you will wonder and fret a bit about her mental health. It was delicate. In the end, sadly, it failed her. But whooowheee, the woman could write.
11 people found this helpful
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William E. Mearns
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2016
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Rather different from what I expected but an interesting picture of the time
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Therese e.
5.0 out of 5 stars THE LONG WINDED LADY, author MAEVE BRENNAN
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2024
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Wonderful , wonderful read , the author had incredible observational skills , all brought to you from her own quirky keen eyed point of view and her day to day lived life in Manhattan . All articles she wrote for The New Yorker .
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Rajesh
5.0 out of 5 stars A feast
Reviewed in India on September 8, 2018
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These short essays are a literary feast, light and nuanced.
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Louise C.
5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 7, 2024
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Really engaging view of life in new York in 50's and 60's. She's like the American Maeve Binchy with an edge
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flutterby
5.0 out of 5 stars Something different
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2024
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Short pieces from the New Yorker. Basically a stream of consciousness but so descriptive it leaves you wanting to read more.
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Palimpsest
3.0 out of 5 stars A journalistic account of New York streets and people.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 30, 2022
Verified Purchase
A strange book. She is very interested in place and on a detailed description of people living in that place. It's New York in the fifties and sixties---its streets and restaurants and the people who inhabit them. It wasn't till the second half of the book however that I began to feel the gifted writer emerge. Her description of rooms and the weather's effects on the city were brilliant. Worth reading her novels and a biography of a this Irish woman in exile who was constantly moving fom place to place as her much loved city changed around her.
2 people found this helpful
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