Fierce Attachments: A Memoir

Vivian Gornick. Simon & Schuster, $10 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-671-65757-4

This supple, energized memoir chronicles Gornick's (Essays in Feminism) explosive relationship with her mother and her unsuccessful battle to reject a legacy of hatred, depression and humiliation. Gornick is ""an able storyteller with a keen ear for dialogue,'' but, according to PW, her work bogs down with ``therapy-talk and self-indulgence.'' (May)

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