READING BOYISHLY

J.M. BARRIE, ROLAND BARTHES, JACQUES HENRIE LARTIGUE,
MARCEL PROUST AND D.W. WINNICOTT

(Duke UP, 2007)

“My book of the year is Reading Boyishly by Carol Mavor. It touched something very deep in me about what it is to be a creative man.”
—Grayson Perry, Turner-Prize Winner, The Guardian

“It is a sigh of relief, this book, a defense of things that make us feel guilty: nostalgia, apron strings, the ‘good-enough mother,’ the lost mother, the nest, the childhood home, the beauty of boys at play. . . . Food and kissing, eating and not eating, boredom and tenderness. Mavor’s is a style to be savored.”
—Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times

“One of the best-looking books of the year.”
—Brian Dillon, Frieze

“An endlessly charming book.”
—Spencer Dew, Rain Taxi

“I love Mavor’s book.”
—Lucy Rollin, Children’s Literature Association Quarterly

“The book is unique, well researched, and visually stunning.”
—J. R. Mitrano, Choice

“Sprightly, witty, distinctly unlabored.”
—Richard Canning, The Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide

“An absolute monster romp through the incredibly intricate tapestry of Oedipal desire, maternal attachment, and nostalgia.”
—Kathryn Adams, Leonardo

“A beautiful, deeply pleasurable, and thought-provoking new book.”
—Michael Payne, The Daily Item (Sunbury, PA)

“An embrace of what some have fretted about as an over-attachment to mothers.”
—Rebecca Wigod, Vancouver Sun

“With hedonistic pleasure, she offers exegetical indulgences and connections she has made in a lifetime of poring over texts, films, photographs, and other aspects of literary and visual culture.”
—William V. Ganis, Afterimage

“Reading Boyishly is a rewarding read with surprising insights into the lives of some very intriguing people.”
—Simone O’Callaghan, Visual Studies