Ah Mabel! I have been to your house in Taos, slept in your bed, and bathed in that wonderful bathroom where you painted the window panes with flowers. Lois Rudnick reveals your life brilliantly. Here is a book alive with heartache and joy, some meaness, and much searching and discovery. Mable Dodge Lujan--an amazing life; a complex and talented woman who, indeed, was a "mover and shaker". "Her desire for self-importance attracted her to some of the most stimulating and creative talents in America." Lois Rudnick details a wonderful biography of who, what, when, and where. Thank you, Lois. You made Mable's house come to life and her life fill the house.

Mabel Dodge Luhan was a hostess and visionary. She made her home in Taos, New Mexico a quiet haven for artists. Several painters, photographers, and writers vistited Mabel's home to reflect, rest, and work. This book is a combination of stories about the house and the visitors who stayed there. It contains many interesting stories about the events that occured with Mabel's home, and the people who were touched by it.

What an outrage and disappointment, this super organized, sanitized act of academic hubris by Rudnick. I suggest you compare this text with the real thing - Edge of Taos Desert to see what I mean. The "Rudnick" autobiography was a total waste of money. I don't think Mabel Dodge Luhan was the kind of woman who would have take kindly to being "abridged." Nor should she have been, when she wrote prose as compelling, honest, sensual and spiritual as found in Edge of Taos Desert. I hope to find an unabridged autobiography. Meanwhile I'm mailing this "autobiography" back to Rudnick.

Intimate memories is the autobiography of one of the most fascinating and influential women in artistic and intellectual circles of the US and Europe in the beginning of the 20th century. Mabel's writing is frank and engaging, and her story draws you in like an adventure novel. Her independent spirit and influence on writers, artists and intellectual luminaries of her time are awe-inspiring. This book is well-written and well edited, and I highly recommend it (and Im NOT just saying this because the editor is my mom)!