Robert Lowell: A Biography Hardcover October 12, 1982

by Ian Hamilton

Newly available letters, manuscripts, and interviews provide details in a full critical biography of the preeminent postwar American poet, whose troubled personal life increasingly became the material of his art

Genres: Biography, Poetry, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Literary Criticism, History

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Robert Ian Hamilton was a British literary critic, reviewer, biographer, poet, magazine editor and publisher.

Reviews

[Jonfaith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be comprehensive if a bit on the lurid side. Examining the life of the poet with an eye for reflections in the verse, the biographer utilizes interviews from peers and friends for details and plumbs the available correspondence for indicators or verification. Lowell lived his entire adult life with bipolar disorder, it is interesting that there doesn't appear to be a manifestation prior to his late 20s. I suppose I could explore Robert Lowell, Setting the River on Fire: A Study of Genius, Mania, and Character to explore the neurological aspects of his disability but I think I am content for the moment, if that is an appropriate term? I have now read most of the verse Lowell committed to paper, most of his prose and two of the hefty tomes of his correspondence. It is difficult to not be in awe of his prodigious talent and it is difficult to not say, bipolar or not -- he was a son of a bitch. His size, strength and family name afforded him privileges as a kid--he utilized such to bully others. Certainly his micromanaging mother picked him apart, but he still quick to terrorize others. As an adult in his manic phases, Lowell likewise went for the jugular and tended to rant about Hitler. His sexual relationships likely warrant an entire study in themselves, and apparently one exists: Robert Lowell in Love which I encountered last night. When reading The Dolphin Letters, 1970-1979: Elizabeth Hardwick, Robert Lowell, and Their Circle I was haunted by a photography of Lowell with his daughter Harriet lurking behind him, half hidden in a doorway as if she was never sure about daddy's disposition. Given a fuller taxonomy of Lowell's narcissism and brutality I will likely never be free of that image.

[Katie Marquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hamilton has written a very interesting biography of a very complex poet. I hardly knew anything about Robert Lowell before reading this biography, having only read a handful of his poems and merely glanced through his famous "Life Studies." Although I wanted some more detail in places (I seem to always feel this way after reading a biography and perhaps it is an unfair critique), I think Hamilton has done a fine job of informing readers about the tumultuous life of Lowell ('Cal'). I found myself alternately pitying and hating Lowell. His manic illness caused him to act in unbelievably cruel ways at times and I mostly felt immense admiration for his second wife of 23 years, Elizabeth Hardwick, for helping her troubled husband through these times (despite his many infidelities). It has become clear to me that Lowell was a man of immense genius. He was also proud, spiteful, conceited, and egotistical. These are human flaws and ones he easily recognized and often admitted shamefully to friends. Known as one of the fathers of 'confessional poetry' he has been both admired and berated for his use of autobiography in his work. In his poem, "Unwanted", he somewhat regretfully admits, "Alas, I can only tell my own story." A superb biography and great starting point for anyone interested in Lowell's life and work.

A favorite quote (which Lowell repeated to himself daily) -

"My dreams at night are so intoxicating to me that I am willing to put on the nothingness of sleep. My dreams in the morning are so intoxicating to me that I am willing to go on living."

[Carol Masciola · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy this genre a lot, the literary biography, and this one seemed to do a good job of describing the life, times and poetry of Robert Lowell. Lowell was manic-depressive, and it was incredible to me how he managed to work, a prolific poet and teacher, despite having to be hospitalized almost every year with mania and delusion. The book follows the evolution of his poetry, his friendships with other well-known poets, his acquaintance with the Kennedys, his three marriages, especially his long marriage to the critic and essayist Elizabeth Hardwick, who stayed with him (until their breakup) through his many, many manic episodes, which always included colossal, out-in-the-open obsessions and affairs with other women, and his many hospitalizations. A short, brilliant, and very often sad life, with a legacy of some of the 20th century's most remarkable poetry.

[Zeck Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up Hamilton's book, used, at a local bookstore, beguiled by the simple title and the lure of Lowell's name and fame. Hamilton does a great job with the poet's family background and the depth and extent of his literary friendships. A sad life, for sure, as Lowell was marked out as different from his early school days and, in his adult life, given to regular bipolar breakdowns, getting high on talk and poetry and then plummeting into despair and institutionalization. How was it possible for him to live any length of time with any human being? He was married three times and had numerous affairs with other women including his students. He required so much care, so much attention, that neither friends nor wifes nor lovers could devote themselves to him sufficiently and the monstrous needs of his ego. How was it possible for him to write and teach? Well, Hamilton makes a case, if only implicitly, for Lowell's need for a desperate life: that is, what were his materials, especially in his last years, if not his life? From Life Studies through the Notebooks, Dolphin, and Day by Day, he was his own tortured subject.

A couple of quibbles re Hamilton's handling of this life: 1) he often attributes a quote, especially long quotes set aside as their own paragraphs, only after the quote, so the reader is confused as to who is speaking or writing; 2) the book ends suddenly, anti-climactically, with Lowell's death in a taxi cab in New York City -- no summation of the poet's final place in the literary arts, no comparison of his ouevre with that of the contemporaries and friends he talked and jousted with throughout his life. (I was especially interested in his relation with that other desperate "Confessional" poet John Berryman, as I come from Minnesota and in fact while in grad school in Texas drove back to Minnesota to attend JB's public funeral. Lowell was not on personal intimate terms with Berryman the way he was with Randall Jarrel, for example, or Elizabeth Bishop, but his bipolar sickness seemed to tack with Berryman's.)

[Paul Callahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the second summer in a row I’ve spent a chunk of it with Robert Lowell. Last summer Setting the River on Fire brought me through the harrowing experience of Lowell’s lifelong struggle with manic depression. I was looking for something more focused on his life and his poetry but Setting the River on Fire was not that book. This biography by Ian Hamilton has been posited as the best biography so I gave it a go.
Of the poets that cast long shadows when I was growing up, Robert Lowell was the darling of the academics. In college the more formal of my professors bestowed upon Lowell, the mantle of Eliot. While I found poetry of Lowell’s that I could love, for the most part I found him tedious. What drew me to reading his biography though was the swirl of poets around him. The women he touched (Plath, Sexton, Elizabeth Bishop) are favorites of mine. The male poets like Frost and Pound, WC Williams and Eliot were on the ebb in His lifetime but I was very interested in how they interacted with Lowell. The barbarians at the gates (O’Hara, Ginsberg and Dickey) were the young post-war poets and they represented an uncoupling from the formal, highly structured poetry that Lowell embraced early. Sadly, there was less of this literary gossip (I know!) than I was looking for and I came away disappointed.
I still stand in awe of Robert Lowell. The complexity of his poetry is remarkable. The fact that he could create what he created while hacking his way through annual institutionalizations is mind bending. I’ve grown closer to the poet and his poetry but I’m done with Robert for a while. Let him sleep peacefully in Dunbarton now. If anyone knows of any good books on the 20th Century poets where they dish the dirt, let me know.
Three point five stars for Ian’s book.

[EMary · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating life! Like Kay Redfield Jamison's "An Unquiet Mind", a must-read for anyone interested in manic-depression and creative genius.

[Kirsten Vega · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Hamilton is on double duty as a cultural historian of the New Critics. Only complaint is with the book binder; the cheap glue is shattering and wrecking the spine!

[lindsey maher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mental illness can create genius

[Pierre · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hamilton's biography is a myopic ad hominem against a poet he could never hope to understand.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb. Tragically sad, but superb.

[Ceyo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hamilton is entirely unfair to his subject. It took many years, and many better books on Lowell, to set the record straight. Read Mariani instead.

[Frederick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because Nick Hornby liked it. In some ways, it was very interesting: Lowell lead an interesting life at an interesting time. I believe that what Nick may have liked about it was how intimate a biography this is. RL's life is very well documented in his abundant letters. For me there are two difficulties with this book: RL suffered from bipolar disorder and thus, was not terribly kind to some of those whom he loved (and he loved many) and the fact that I am not a poet, and find his poetry difficult to understand. Still, if you are looking for a story about a tormented genius, this is it.

[Nicolas Shump · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hamilton is somewhat notorious for his People Magazine approach to his various biographical subjects. This is not much different than his usual m.o. Gets the basic facts right, but nothing to write home about.

[Holly Selph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty big investment--500 pages on a poet I cannot stand, but I've wondered since my teens if I was missing something. This settled it. Well-written and comprehensive document of his life, but I'm glad to be putting it back on a shelf. Mine eyes hurt.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s important to read about something you know absolutely bugger all about. This was one such case. A belter of a biography even to a layman about a poet I’d never heard of, and, on finishing the book, was glad I hadn’t.

[Jamey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good biography.

[Hans P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic literary biography.