"Country Girl is Edna O'Brien's exquisite account of her dashing, barrier-busting, up-and-down life."-National Public Radio When Edna O'Brien's first novel, The Country Girls, was published
in 1960, it so scandalized the O'Briens' local parish that the book was burned by its priest. O'Brien was undeterred and has since created a body of work that bears comparison with the best writing
of the twentieth century. Country Girl brings us face-to-face with a life of high drama and contemplation. Starting with O'Brien's birth in a grand but deteriorating house in Ireland, her story
moves through convent school to elopement, divorce, single-motherhood, the wild parties of the '60s in London, and encounters with Hollywood giants, pop stars, and literary titans. There is love
and unrequited love, and the glamour of trips to America as a celebrated writer and the guest of Jackie Onassis and Hillary Clinton. Country Girl is a rich and heady accounting of the
events, people, emotions, and landscape that have imprinted upon and enhanced one lifetime.
A New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books of 2013
One of the New Yorker’s Best Books of 2012
Finalist for the 2013 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Biography
A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2013 for Nonfiction
A 2013 New York Times Editor’s Choice
A 2014 Chicago Tribune Editor’s Choice
A New York Times bestseller
A Los Angeles Times bestseller
An NPR bestseller
A San Francisco Chronicle bestseller
A 2012 Library Journal Editor’s Pick
Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
"Country Girl is Edna O'Brien's exquisite account of her dashing, barrier-busting, up-and-down life."-National Public Radio When Edna O'Brien's first novel, The Country Girls, was published
in 1960, it so scandalized the O'Briens' local parish that the book was burned by its priest. O'Brien was undeterred and has since created a body of work that bears comparison with the best writing
of the twentieth century. Country Girl brings us face-to-face with a life of high drama and contemplation. Starting with O'Brien's birth in a grand but deteriorating house in Ireland, her story
moves through convent school to elopement, divorce, single-motherhood, the wild parties of the '60s in London, and encounters with Hollywood giants, pop stars, and literary titans. There is love
and unrequited love, and the glamour of trips to America as a celebrated writer and the guest of Jackie Onassis and Hillary Clinton. Country Girl is a rich and heady accounting of the
events, people, emotions, and landscape that have imprinted upon and enhanced one lifetime.
Editorial Reviews
Editorial Reviews
Edna O'Brien has made of her memories something of both precision and depth, a book that, letting us see her as she was, jumps with an all-consuming curiosity from one lucidly narrated event to another. —Philip Roth—-
O'Brien's religion has been literature; to it she has remained devout, with a fervor that is contagious...She is no saint. She is an icon. —Stacy Schiff, New York Times Book Review—-
"Demure reflections on her celebrated literary life well lived comprise this lovely memoir....O'Brien always returns to the enduring heart of her writing. —Publishers Weekly (starred review)—-
Country Girl is a book of magics, truths, stories, and quiet immensity. No one else could have written it, and no one else could have lived it. —Andrew O'Hagan, author of Be Near Me—-
This is a big, robust life, and though one might come for the literary gossip, the lucid prose and sharp insight command one's attention. It's with good reason that this memoir has been placed on so many lists of best books of 2013...We're in the thrall of one of the most beguiling and resilient contemporary writers, a stylist and a survivor...through it all, she's an exuberant literary pioneer. —Elizabeth Taylor, Chicago Tribune (Editor's Choice)—-
Ms. O'Brien has long and correctly been recognized as among the greatest Irish writers of the 20th century. She's had an outsize life to match her outsize talent. —Dwight Garner, New York Times—-
O'Brien's account of her life is completely irresistible. —Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe—-
A wonderful, lively memoir. —Katie Roiphe, Slate.com—-
Edna O'Brien, for whom the word 'redoubtable' may well have been coined, has lived a long and quite remarkable life...Anyone who knows and loves her work, as I do, will want to read Country Girl from start to finish. —Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post—-
O'Brien is skilled at snatching triumph from melancholy....Thrilling, sensuous, unblinking. —Lisa Shea, Elle—-
Flashes of prodigious beauty and power. —Hilary Mantel—-
The doyenne of contemporary Irish letters did not enjoy a straight-line rise to international fame and critical regard. . .Now, of course, O'Brien's fiction (brilliant short stories as well as novels) is seen for what it always was, richly illuminating and, yes, candid depictions of women's needs and desires, rendered with no sentimentality or salaciousness. . . .Her book is a beautifully expressed testament to a writer's tenacity. —Brad Hooper, Booklist (starred review)—-
Edna O'Brien's Country Girl shimmers with heart, soul and literary brilliance. —Nancy R. Ives, Library Journal—-
Edna O'Brien had to exile herself, like Joyce and Beckett, to become herself. Mad Ireland hurt her into prose the way Auden said it had hurt Yeats into poetry....Literature-O'Brien's most faithful companion, her deepest faith-brings what consolation it can. She returns the favor by adding her extravagant lyricism to its trove. —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times—-
In Country Girl there is great honesty and struggle, and joy and sorrow leaping together--pure life! —Alice Munro—-
Get ready to applaud, ladies and gentlemen, because there is no one like her. O'Brien, in her 80s, may look like an icon and talk like an icon, but she writes like the thing itself, with prose that is scrupulous and lyrical, beautiful and exact.... —Anne Enright, Guardian (UK)—-
You must suffer to become yourself, and it doesn't get easier. I took heart from Country Girl, both as the self-portrait of a great prose stylist, and an exemplary female survivor. —Judith Thurman, "Best Books of 2012," The New Yorker—-
After dazzling readers and reviewers around the world for decades, O'Brien, now 82, finally turns her attention to her own life. Country Girl is as dramatic as any novel. —O, the Oprah Magazine—-
We follow O'Brien through convent school, love affairs, motherhood, the banning of her books, and her working years in London and New York. Along the way, we encounter Günter Gras, Joseph Brodsky, Jackie Onassis, and other luminaries. O'Brien beautifully renders her remarkably rich life, her 'many me's.' —The New Yorker—-
In prose as lyrical and exacting as any in O'Brien's fiction, Country Girl evokes both the solitariness and the adventure of a life devoted to writing. —Megan O'Grady, Vogue—-
When sex fails you, there's always gossip. An excellent memoir, Country Girl provided it in shedloads, along with some moral seriousness to boot. —Louise Doughty, Observer (UK)—-
“Edna O'Brien has made of her memories something of both
precision and depth, a book that, letting us see her as she was, jumps with an
all-consuming curiosity from one lucidly narrated event to another.” —Philip Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“O’Brien is skilled at snatching triumph from
melancholy....Thrilling, sensuous, unblinking.” —Elle
“In prose as lyrical and exacting as any in O’Brien’s
fiction, Country Girl evokes both the
solitariness and the adventure of a life devoted to writing.” —Vogue
“You must suffer to become yourself, and it doesn’t get
easier. I took heart from Country Girl,
both as the self-portrait of a great prose stylist and an exemplary female
survivor.” —New Yorker
“Ms. O’Brien has long and correctly been recognized as
among the greatest Irish writers of the twentieth century. She’s had an outsize
life to match her outsize talent.” —New York Times
“Edna O’Brien, for whom the word ‘redoubtable’ may well
have been coined, has lived a long and quite remarkable life...Anyone who knows
and loves her work, as I do, will want to read Country Girl from start to finish.” —Washington Post
“This is a big, robust life, and though one might come for
the literary gossip, the lucid prose and sharp insight command one’s attention.
It’s with good reason that this memoir has been placed on so many lists of best
books of 2013...We’re in the thrall of one of the most beguiling and resilient
contemporary writers, a stylist, and a survivor...Through it all, she’s an
exuberant literary pioneer.” —Chicago Tribune
“O’Brien’s account of her life is completely irresistible.” —Boston Globe
“O’Brien’s religion has been literature; to it she has
remained devout, with a fervor that is contagious...She is no saint. She is an
icon.” —New York Times Book Review
“Edna O’Brien had to exile herself, like Joyce and Beckett,
to become herself. Mad Ireland hurt her into prose the way Auden said it had
hurt Yeats into poetry....Literature—O’Brien’s most faithful companion, her
deepest faith—brings what consolation it can. She returns the favor by adding
her extravagant lyricism to its trove.” —Los Angeles Times
“Get ready to applaud, ladies and gentlemen, because there
is no one like her. O’Brien, in her 80s, may look like an icon and talk like an
icon, but she writes like the thing itself, with prose that is scrupulous and
lyrical, beautiful and exact.” —Guardian (London)
“When sex fails you, there’s always gossip. An excellent
memoir, Country Girl provided it in
shedloads, along with some moral seriousness to boot.” —Observer (London)
“While O’Brien overly devotes her time to cataloguing the
notable actors, writers, and politicians of her acquaintance, the accounts of
her childhood and her descriptions of Ireland soar with a lyricism reminiscent
of [James] Joyce. Recommended for memoir lovers and readers with a desire for
more insight into this important twentieth-century literary figure.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“For lovers of audiobook memoirs, it doesn’t get better
than this: a grand and memorable life, efficiently written and carefully detailed,
as told by the person who lived it. We listen as O’Brien—propelled by destiny,
courage, and confidence—writes her way out of the small-minded world of her
Irish hometown; inserts herself into a high-society culture filled with
musicians, literary titans, and film stars; experiences several highs on the
‘love trampoline,’ as well as life-threatening bouts of despair; and ultimately
(and fortunately) breaks her vow never to write her memoir. In her narration,
O’Brien’s vocal eccentricities—including a sonorous, often bemused tone—enliven
and color her carefully crafted prose. The result is a detailed
self-examination that achieves the realm of literary nonfiction. Winner of
AudioFile Earphones Award.” —AudioFile
Edna O’Brien is the multiaward–winning author of numerous books., including the Country Girls trilogy. She won the 2019 David Cohen Prize for lifetime achievement in literature and
the 2018 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature. She is the recipient of the James Joyce Ulysses Medal and an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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