Ezra Pound: The Solitary Volcano

by John Tytell

Unlike other biographical portraits of Ezra Pound, John Tytell's brilliant and ambitious work offers an interpretive study that boldly confronts the emotional truths and psychological drama that formed this complex and controversial American poet. Neither an apology nor a condemnation, it presents instead a meticulous exploration into the mind and vision of a man who galvanized a generation and challenged an entire literary--and world--establishment. Although he enjoyed little fame in his lifetime, Pound's notoriety and influence were enormous, as he arrogantly slashed away at convention and almost single-handedly brought about the twentieth-century revolution in poetry known as modernism. Ultimately, outrage and scandal turned his art to madness, and Pound's last years saw him fall tragically silent.

Genres: Biography, Poetry, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Literature

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Born in Antwerp, Belgium, John Tytell is an American writer and academic. He has been a professor of English at Queens College, City University of New York since 1977. He was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his Ezra Pound: The Solitary Volcano (1987), which is also his best known book along with Naked Angels, an early history of the Beats.