NEW EDITION!
Explore Marguerite Young's magnum opus with this new edition of To All My Darlings Volume 1 Chapters 1-44.

There are many ways that Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young can be read:

1. A Gothic tale of mystery with a touch of the macabre where no one is who they seem so that by the end of the novel it will need to be read again because the novel will be completely different after learning the truth.
2. A gorgeous love song to poetry and poetic prose.
3. A laundry list of all the literature, poems, music, philosophy, and psychology that Young loved.
4. Young’s personal history of what she found relevant from the Greek and Roman era through the Civil Rights Era.
5. A deep dive into American culture, mythology, and psychology with particular emphasis on the Midwest.
6. A teaching reference on every literary device used in English literature.
7. A philosophical treasure trove (Buddhist Zen Master Koan) using questioning to challenge the reader’s perception of everything they think they know about life, truth, and love.
8. A metaphysical exploration with deep psychological underpinnings.

Fair warning, after you read this book, all others will seem dull, coarse, and boring.

The study and analysis of Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young has been neglected for decades. The prominent analysis comes from Mariam Fuchs, from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Ellen G. Friedman, at the College of New Jersey, with Breaking the Sequence: Women’s Experimental Fiction and an interview at Dalkey Archive Press. Fuchs also compiled stories for Marguerite Young, Our Darling: Tributes and Essays.

Many people, including myself, only find Young’s book through word-of-mouth or because it appears on lists as the third longest book written in American Literature.

https://affotd.com/2014/06/04/the-7-longest-books-in-american-history/

This three volume set, To All My Darlings, seeks to broaden discussion and analysis of this American epic novel that is firmly grounded in American culture and mythology. It is meant to be a supplement to expand the reader’s enjoyment of the novel and lead to further research and discussion. Volumes 1 and 2 are organized by chapter and includes: Character List, Synopsis, Themes, Symbols and Imagery, Important Passages in each Chapter, Resources, and References.

These recommendations depends on how deep the reader wants to engage with this novel:

1. Summary: read the Character List and Synopsis in Volume 1 and 2 of To All My Darlings.
2. A little deeper: read #1 above plus Themes, Symbols and Imagery in Volume 1 and 2 of To All My Darlings.
3. All the way down: read #1 and #2 plus Important Passages in each Chapter and the Resources in Volume 1 and 2 of To All My Darlings.
4. Completely drown: read all of the above in Volumes 1 and 2 plus Volume 3 of To All My Darlings.

Wikipedia was mainly used for the references. The emphasis was on a research source that was free and easily accessible.

Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young is available to purchase from Dalkey Archive Press, on Amazon as a new edition in 2022 (print and Kindle), and to borrow from the Open Library.

This is a labor of love. There is no publishing house backing this work. It is just a person who fell in love with a book because it became the ultimate reason for having spent a lifetime reading. Marguerite Young in an interview was interested in “obsession” so this person decided to become obsessed with Miss MacIntosh, My Darling.

There are oceans and mountains of material to explore in one of America’s greatest literature epic novels. With Miss MacIntosh, My Darling I have found my reason for reading. I hope you find your book and your reason for reading.