SOURCE: "Rare Birds of New York," in The Company She Kept, The Bodley Head, 1967, pp. 111-14.

Grumbach is an American novelist, critic, and biographer. Her novels involve a process of constant reflection and reinterpretation of facts, paralleled by the reflection of her characters upon their own lives and professions. Often placed in academic environments, these characters are intelligent but unable to use their knowledge to lead satisfying lives or enjoy fulfilling relationships. In the following excerpt from her book-length study of McCarthy, Grumbach remarks on McCarthy's treatment of emotion in "The Company Is Not Responsible" and "The Unspoiled Reaction. "

There was considerable doubt about whether or not The Company She Keeps was a novel. A series of stories held together by a metamorphosing heroine seemed to some critics not to qualify. One called it "thinly disguised autobiography," a good and amusing parallel to the critic who was later...