Pentimento

Lillian Hellman

What Was There for Me Once, What Is There for Me Now – Sometime in the 1980s I fell in love with Lillian Hellman. The plays. The essays. I began reading everything I could by and about Lillian Hellman. Her work – “The Children’s Hour,” “The Little Foxes,” “Toys in the Attic,” “Scoundrel Time,” “Pentimento,” and so on. Her relationship with Dashiell Hammett. Her friendship with Dorothy Parker. Her feud with Mary McCarthy. Her bravery during the House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings. And, then, the accusations of lies and fabrications. And, finally, her last book, “Maybe,” which only raised more questions. So, it was a delight, now nearly 40 years later, to find “Pentimento” among the stacks at Ravenswood Used Books, and to dive back in. It’s all here. The boozy stories, the bawdy tales, Hammett, theater, Julia, and that ultimate survivor, a turtle on Martha’s Vineyard. Given the accusations that still haunt Hellman’s veracity, is it worthwhile to read this book today? I can answer that by recalling Hellman’s own words from the preface: “The paint has aged now and I wanted to see what was there for me once, what is there for me now.” What’s there now for me? The pleasure of Lillian Hellman’s writing – how she tells her stories.