A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays Author:Mary McCarthy Mary McCarthy was one of the leading literary figures of her time. Best remembered for her novels and memoirs, she was also a tireless literary and social critic. The intellectual brio and acute judgment that characterize her best fiction is vividly displayed in this rich selection of essays spanning the 1930s to the 1970s. Topics include everyt... more »hing from McCarthyism, Vietnam, and Watergate to Eugene ONeill, J. D. Salinger, Madame Bovary, A Streetcar Named Desire, and womens fashion magazines. [McCarthy is] our First Lady of letters. Norman Mailer McCarthys essays ... display a keen intelligence ... freshness of perception, coupled with common sense and an old-fashioned belief in social responsibility. The New York Times« less