How I Grew

How I Grew explores the young adulthood of Mary McCarthy, one of the most outspoken and prominent intellectuals of the twentieth century. Focusing on eight formative years of her lifefrom high school in the Seattle area through college at VassarMcCarthy reveals a girl by turns vulnerable, independent, dramatic, lonely, inquisitive, romantic, demonstrably bright, and uncommonly daring. In candid, often intimate detail, How I Grew recounts McCarthy's early attempts at writing; her relationships with teachers, family, and friends; a melodramatic flirtation with suicide; and experiences as dissimilar as her first job and her first seduction. A natural companion to the much-praised Memories of a Catholic Girlhood, this is a remarkable personal chronicle, an utterly convincing self-portrait, and a superb addition to the art of the autobiography.McCarthy, Mary is the author of 'How I Grew' with ISBN 9780156027885 and ISBN 0156027887.