Vivian Gornick is a writer of essays, criticism, and literary nonfiction, a fierce feminist, and a proud New Yorker. Her 1987 book about her relationship with her mother, Fierce Attachments, was recently chosen by the book critics of the New York Times as the finest memoir of the last 50 years. In our conversation, Vivian reflected on growing up among working-class Jews in the Bronx, her struggles with her mother, her journey through the women’s liberation movement, and her relationship to desire, love, and work.

Fierce Attachments

The Odd Woman and the City

The Press of Freedom: An Ofay’s Indirect Address to LeRoi Jones

Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny’s - Tom Wolfe