Just Words
Lillian Hellman, Mary McCarthy, and the Failure of Public Conversation in America
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23479736 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alan L Ackerman, Alan Ackerman (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Pages | 361 |
| Publication date | 2011-06-28 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | BOOK |
| Venue | Just words (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Yale University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.12987/yale/9780300167122.001.0001 |
| OpenAlex | W647848039 |
| Open Library | OL24893495M |
| ISBN | 9780300167122 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
In an appearance on The Dick Cavett Show in 1980, the critic Mary McCarthy glibly remarked that every word author Lillian Hellman wrote was a lie, including 'and' and 'the.' Hellman immediately filed a libel suit, charging that McCarthy's comment was not a legitimate conversation on public issues but an attack on her reputation. This intriguing book offers a many-faceted examination of Hellman's infamous suit and explores what it tells us about tensions between privacy and self-expression, freedom and restraint in public language, and what can and cannot be said in public in America.
Linguistics · Freedom of Expression and Defamation · Law, Rights, and Freedoms · Philosophy · Psychology · 20th century · Dick Cavett show (Television program) · Freedom of speech · History · Libel and slander · lillian Hellman (1905-1984) · mary Mccarthy (1912-1989) · New York · New York (State) · Political aspects · Politics and literature · Television broadcasting · Television talk shows · Trials (libel) · Trials, litigation · United Staes · united states
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,36 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2021 (7) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |