Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. List of Illustrations vii
4. A Note on Name Usage ix
5. Introduction: “Maxims in the Copybook of Modernism” 1
6. 1 • The Limited Life of a Dorchester Girl 11
7. 2 • At Radcliffe: “A Pushy Lace-Curtain Irish Girl from Dorchester” 22
8. 3 • First Husband, Lindesay Parrott: “Strange Moments of Tenderness and Pretty Constant Dislike” 30
9. 4 • Modern Parenting 43
10. 5 • Greenwich Village: The Path to Becoming a “Self-Sufficient, Independent, Successful Manager of Her Own Life” 53
11. 6 • Hugh O’Connor: High Felicity on the “Road of No Rules” 63
12. 7 • New Freedoms in the “Era of the One-Night Stand”: The Ex-Wife Is Born 73
13. 8 • Ursula Goes to Hollywood 86
14. 9 • Second Husband, Charles Greenwood: “The Stupidest Thing I Ever Did in My Life” 105
15. 10 • “Extravagant Hell” 120
16. 11 • The Business of Being a Writer 133
17. 12 • Third Husband, John Wildberg: The Faint Resemblance of Stability 148
18. 13 • “The Monotony and Weariness of Living” 163
19. 14 • Fourth Husband, Alfred Coster Schermerhorn: “Two Catastrophes Should Be Enough” 175
20. 15 • Saving Private Bryan: The United States vs. Ursula Parrott 189
21. 16 • Her “Breaks Went Bad” 202
22. 17 • “Black Coffee, Scotch, and Excitement” 218
23. Afterword: Remembering a “Leftover Lady” 227
24. Acknowledgments 231
25. Chronology 235
26. Notes 237
27. Published Writings 267
28. Filmography 273
29. Bibliography 275
30. Index 285