A Jury of Her Peers is a comprehensive look at the history of American women writers from the founding of America to the modern times. It examines women writers and gives a thorough study of each writer but Elaine Showalter never overdoes it. She seems to know that line between not enough information and too much information. The book is basically a textbook but it makes very good reading. I love reading about the history of women and the marks that women have made on history. The stories of amazing things that other women have done over the years inspire me to do more with my life and make me feel that if they can do it, so can I.
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A useful reference source on women writers in America ( )

Great and comprehensive overview of American fiction and poetry by women. I like Showalter's style and the sheer readability of the book is impressive. Learned a ton and my 'to be' read; list has grown by about 15 new-to-me authors. ( )

I've been working on this one for a while and it unfortunately wasn't as interesting as I hoped it would be. This is basically what the title describes - an overview of women writers in America. Showalter seems to attempt to give credit to women who've been shut out of the American canon by white, male critics and scholars. I admire this attempt, but I wasn't really convinced. I thought I would come away with dozens of new books I just had to read, but that wasn't the case. There were a couple of authors (Gwendolyn Brooks, Shirley Jackson, Annie Proulx) who I know of but haven't gotten around to reading that moved up the TBR list a bit. But for most of the "unknowns" I just wasn't convinced that they sounded that great. I'm not sure if that is the book's fault or not. If you aren't very familiar with women authors this book might be interesting to skim, but otherwise I wouldn't rush out to read it. ( )

Great book! It’s fun both for reference, and as a straight read-through. I didn’t agree with Showalter’s opinions all the time – she’s tough on Gertrude Stein – but mostly she’s generous and respectful towards her subjects. I enjoyed this book too much to make lists, so I have to go back and read it again. ( )