A Time to Be Born

********** Dawn Powell, Ohioan by birth, sophisticated Manhattanite by choice, is one of America's biggest cultural hang-fires. This unfortunately still-too-little known writer who died in 1962 deserves a far wider audience; pity that the publishing of most of her novels in a two-volume set by the Library of America in 2001 didn't put her in the cultural Panetheon where she belongs. "A Time to be Born" is a good starter... Read Full Review

This magical novel was published in 1942. Unlike most of Dawn Powell's earlier novels, it sold well and went through several printings. Although Powell denied it, one of the major characters of the book, Amanda Keeler Evans, is based in part on and satirizes Claie Boothe Luce.These external details say little about the appeal of this novel.As with most of Dawn Powell's books, "A Time to be Born" talks about New York City... Read Full Review

Despite its awkward title, Dawn Powell's A Time To Be Born is, after Washington Irving's A Knickerbocker's History of New York, the funniest book in American literature. The story of the rise and fall of ruthless self-promoter, arch manipulator, and glamour girl Amanda Evans Keeler, the novel seamlessly propels the reader through its deliciously involving plot, dropping brisk, barbed, and piercing bombs of cutting humor... Read Full Review

This novel, set in early World War II, could have been written yesterday. The author masterfully portrays complex characters with ranges of selfishness, naivete, cynicism, humor, everything. It's a great story of twenty-something's making their way in New York City. Enjoy!

This is the first of Dawn Powell's books I have read, and I look forward to reading the rest. It's a hilarious send-up of very recognizable types, as caustic and cynical (and as funny) as H. L. Mencken or Ambrose Bierce has written.