A revelatory exploration of the writer's art, by the bestselling author of the V. I. Warshawski novels.

In this powerful new book, Sara Paretsky explores the traditions of political and literary dissent that have informed her life and work, against the unparalleled repression of free speech and thought in the USA today. In tracing the writer's difficult journey from silence to speech, she turns to her childhood and youth in rural Kansas, and brilliantly evokes Chicago — the city with which she has become indelibly associated — from her arrival during the civil-rights struggle in the mid-1960s to her most extraordinary literary creation, the south-side detective V. I. Warshawski. Paretsky traces the emergence of V. I. Warshawski from the shadows of the loner detectives that stalk the mean streets of Dashiell Hammett's and Raymond Chandler's novels, and in the process explores American individualism, the failure of the American dream, and the resulting dystopia. Both memoir and meditation, Writing in an Age of Silence is a compelling exploration of the writer's art and daunting responsibility in the face of the assault on US civil liberties post-9/11.

"In this brief, potent memoir, bestselling novelist Paretsky (Fire Sale) proves as sharp and straight shooting as V.I. Warshawski, the female private investigator she's made famous in 12 novels. Carefully sketching her conjoined lives as an artist and activist who cut her political teeth on the civil rights and feminist movements of the 1960s, she paints a moving portrait of herself as an engaged intellectual looking to make a substantive and life-affirming mark on society. Paretsky can be pointed in recollecting childhood influences — including Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, and her realization that the only woman writer taught in school was named 'George' — and how they play into silences faced now by writers and citizens. Paretsky is also passionate about the religious right and the Patriot Act, but her views on how the current administration treats women's sexual and reproductive freedoms are among the most powerful. 'The junior Mr. Bush has given free rein to corporate venality,' she asserts, ' but he is adamant about controlling the sexual behavior of women both at home and abroad. Little girls, you must get Daddy's permission for what you want to do in the privacy of your bedroom.' Paretsky's informed views illuminate her fiction and add dimension to discussions of the political responsibilities of the artist." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"A volunteer in Gage Park during Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1966 summer march and a feminist since the second wave crested, Paretsky renounces contemporary U.S. policies in a gutsy inventory of the civil rights infringements that threaten her livelihood....Highly recommended." Library Journal

"[An] urgent cry for dissent and a powerful reminder that liberties taken for granted may someday not be granted at all." Booklist

"Some may wish to assure Paretsky that her idealism can return despite the current administration's actions, while others may chastise her for hanging on to her '60s-based ideals or her guilt about writing when she could be out protesting." Los Angeles Times

In this powerful new book, Paretsky explores the traditions of political and literary dissent that have informed her life and work, against the unparalleled repression of free speech and thought in the post 9/11 era.

Sara Paretsky is the author of the bestselling V. I. Warshawski novels, including, most recently, Fire Sale and Blacklist. The winner of many awards, including the Cartier Diamond Dagger award for lifetime achievement from the British Crime Writers' Association, she lives in Chicago.