Elizabeth Hardwick (writer)
A razor-sharp critic and essayist who co-founded The New York Review of Books, crafting sentences of devastating clarity and championing the life of the mind.
1916–2007 (age 91)·American writer and literary critic·Birthday: July 27·The Greatest Generation
Biography
Elizabeth Hardwick left the South of her Kentucky upbringing for the intellectual ferment of New York City, a journey that defined her life and work. She arrived as a graduate student at Columbia and never really left the city's literary orbit. Her novels, like *The Ghostly Lover* and *Sleepless Nights*, were admired for their stylistic precision and psychological depth, but it was as a critic that she found her most powerful voice. Her essays, collected in volumes like *Seduction and Betrayal*, dissected literature and culture with an unmatched blend of erudition and street-smart wit. In 1963, during a New York newspaper strike, she channeled her frustration into action, helping to found The New York Review of Books with her husband, the poet Robert Lowell, and others. The publication became, and remains, a central institution of American intellectual life, a testament to her belief in serious criticism.
The Greatest Generation
1901–1927
Grew up during the Depression, fought World War II, and built the postwar economic boom. Defined by shared sacrifice, institutional trust, and a belief that hard work and loyalty would be rewarded.
Elizabeth was born in 1916, placing them squarely in The Greatest Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Elizabeth Was Born
The biggest hits of 1916
#1 Movie
Intolerance
Elizabeth's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1916Born
The Battle of the Somme claims over a million casualties
President: Woodrow Wilson
1921Started school
First commercial radio broadcasts
President: Warren G. Harding"My Man" — Fanny Brice
1929Became a teenager
Wall Street crashes, triggering the Great Depression
Gas: $0.21/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Singin' in the Rain" — Cliff EdwardsBest Picture: The Broadway Melody
1932Could drive
Amelia Earhart flies solo across the Atlantic
Gas: $0.18/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Night and Day" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Grand Hotel
1934Could vote
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Stars Fell on Alabama" — Jack TeagardenBest Picture: It Happened One Night
1937Turned 21
Hindenburg disaster; Golden Gate Bridge opens
Gas: $0.20/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" — Ella FitzgeraldBest Picture: The Life of Emile Zola
1946Turned 30
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1956Turned 40
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1966Turned 50
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1976Turned 60
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1986Turned 70
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 80
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2007Died at 91
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
Key Achievements
- Co-founded The New York Review of Books in 1963, serving as an advisory editor and contributing writer for decades.
- Wrote the influential essay collection *Seduction and Betrayal: Women and Literature* (1974), a landmark of feminist literary criticism.
- Her novel *Sleepless Nights* (1979) was hailed as a masterful, innovative work of autobiographical fiction.
- Was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1985 and received the Gold Medal for Criticism.
Did You Know?
She was married to the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Robert Lowell for over two decades; their tumultuous relationship was the subject of much literary attention.
Hardwick was the first woman to be named a senior editor at the publishing house Farrar, Straus and Company.
She wrote the introduction to the first *Best American Short Stories* anthology in 1978.
The character of Milly Theale in Henry James's *The Wings of the Dove* was reportedly based in part on a story from Hardwick's own family.
“The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind.”
