Virago Modern Classic Book Club: Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady

The witty woman is a tragic figure in American life. Wit destroys eroticism and eroticism destroys wit, so women must choose between taking lovers and taking no prisoners. – Florence King

Florence King was born in Washington, DC, which she called ‘a geographical accident for which Granny never forgave any of us, for I was supposed to be an Upton of Virginia just like her.’

She received her BA from American University in Washington, DC and then worked for three years as a reporter on the women’s page of the Raleigh News and Observer. Ms King’s reaction to covering debutantes and brides was to try her hand at writing confession stories and pornography. When she left the newspaper, she turned out thirty-seven pulp novels (under various pseudonyms), averaging one a month. Later she concentrated on writing articles for national magazines such as Harper’s and Cosmopolitan, and became a regular columnist for National Review. She published ten books under her own name, a historical novel under a pen name and one ghost job about which her lips are forever sealed. Florence King never married. She lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia.