February Not Fiction Book Discussions

Fierce Attachments: A Memoir by Vivian Gornick was selected by the New York Times last year as one of the 50 best memoirs of the past 50 years. Its unsentimental portrayal of Gornick's relationship with her mother as well as her lifelong struggle to define herself as a woman through love and through work helped to establish the confessional memoir genre.

Gornick's narrative alternates between present-day walks with her elderly mother through the streets of New York and stories from Gornick's past, defining moments in her coming-of-age as a woman and a writer. As a child, Gornick is offered two different models of femininity--that of her mother's romantic devotion to her deceased husband, and that of her neighbor Nettie's calculating seduction of a series of men. Gornick, however, discovers an initially more satisfying way to define herself, independent of her relationships with Mama, Nettie, or men--going to college and then working as a writer. As we walk with Gornick through her life, we come to understand along with her that a full life will somehow need to include both love and work.

What do you think? Gornick has titled her memoir "fierce attachments." How would you describe her relationship with her mother? With Nettie? What do Mama and Nettie represent to Gornick as a young girl? And why are Mama and Nettie in competition for the young Vivian's affection? What does she represent to them? Does Gornick's relationship with her mother evolve over the years? How would you describe Gornick's romantic relationships with Stefan, Davy, and Joe? What does she learn about herself from each of these relationships? And how would you describe Gornick's relationship with her work? Is it also "fierce"? Do you feel that it is any easier today than when Gornick was growing up for a woman to integrate both love and work in her life?

We hope you will join the discussion: Tuesday, February 4, at 6:30 p.m. at Main Library; Thursday, February 20, at 11:00 a.m. at West Ashley Branch Library; and here on the blog.