Aperçus

Mignon McLaughlin was a short story writer and playwright with a rapier wit and an acerbic take on love, marriage, and friendship. Her aphorisms, published between 1958 and 1966, will appeal to everyone who appreciates this aristocratic, subversive genre. Not all of the collection consists of aphorisms, strictly speaking: some are simply reflections, brutally honest as they are clever, on McLaughlin’s own fears and foibles.

Mignon McLaughlin was a short story writer and playwright with a rapier wit and an acerbic take on love, marriage, and friendship. Her aphorisms, published between 1958 and 1966, will appeal to everyone who appreciates this aristocratic, subversive genre. Not all of the collection consists of aphorisms, strictly speaking: some are simply reflections, brutally honest as they are clever, on McLaughlin’s own fears and foibles. Aperçus is an autobiography in epigrams of a shrewd, candid, and entertaining woman.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) was a short story writer and playwright before she discovered her métier as an aphorist in the mid-‘50s. She worked as an editor at Vogue and Cosmopolitan.