Taking My Life

Discovered in her papers as a handwritten manuscript in 2008, Jane Rule's autobiography is a rich and culturally significant document that follows the first twenty-one years of her life. In writing about her formative years, she is indeed "taking" the measure of her life, assessing its contours of pleasure and pain, and accounting precisely for how it evolved, with great discretion and consideration for those who might have been affected by being represented in her work. She appreciated the ambiguity of the title she chose, with all its implications of suicide: at the end of her writing life, she was submitting herself as a person, not only to the literary and cultural, but also the moral and ethical critique of her readers. At turns deeply moving and witty, Taking My Life probes in emotional and intellectual terms the larger philosophical questions that were to preoccupy her throughout her literary career, and showcases the origins and contexts that gave shape... Number of Words in Auth: 2 Formats : EPUB Number of Formats : 1 Has Cover : Yes Single Author : Jane Rule Original Source : Mirc New Files 02 14 U A Sorted Author by LN, FN: Rule, Jane Title Length : 014 Title Parm D : Taking My Life Title Parm F : Taking My Life Title Parm A : Taking My Life Title Parm B : ( Record ID : 6273 Uncomma Author : Jane Rule Num of Aut : 1 With an afterword by Linda M. Morra Discovered in her papers in 2008, Jane Rule's autobiography is a rich and culturally significant document that follows the first twenty-one years of her life: the complexities of her relationships with family, friends, and early lovers, and how her sensibilities were fashioned by mentors or impeded by the socio-cultural practices and educational ­politics of the day. In writing about her ­formative years, Rule is indeed "taking" the measure of her life, assessing its contours of pleasure and pain, accounting for how it evolved as it did. Yet not ­allowing the manuscript to be published in her lifetime was an act of ­discretion: she was considering those who might have been affected by being represented in her work not as confidently ­emancipated as she had always been. She must also have appreciated the ambiguity of the title she chose, with all its implications of suicide: at the end of her writing life, she was submitting herself to critical scrutiny, ­allowing herself to be vulnerable as a person to the critique of her readers. Deeply moving and elegantly witty, Taking My Life probes the larger philosophical questions that were to preoccupy Rule throughout her literary career and showcases the origins and contexts that gave shape to her rich intellectual life. It will especially ­appeal to avid followers of her work, delighted to discover another of her books that has, until now, remained unpublished. Valuable source materials for academics teaching and studying Jane Rule's work.
Linda Morra has done a great job, with both her introduction to this Jane Rule autobiography and in her acknowledgements thereto, placing Jane’s oeuvre in its contexts of both social history and academia.

However, most readers will recognize Jane Rule as the author who first “legitimized” lesbian relationships for the Western middle classes with her most well-known book, Desert of the Heart which has often been described in the vernacular (though of course never by me, who read the book purely for its literary value), as “the world’s first lesbian Harlequin romance.” It was also made into the popular film “Desert Hearts,” much celebrated by the feminist community world wide. This delightful unpublished work by Jane Rule showcases the origins and contexts that gave shape to her rich intellectual life This delightful memoir by Jane Rule showcases the origins and contexts that gave shape to her rich intellectual life