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Restless Spirit: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay
Two tone pastel grey and pink decorative dustjacket on this first edition, first printing collectible hardcover , rubbing and slight edge wear, book itself rates like new/fine, jacket is NOT priceclippd, NEVER library, NOT the worthless book club edition.
- GenresBiography
271 pages, Hardcover
Published June 1, 1962
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 26, 2019
This work attempts to place Millay in the literary world of her adulthood from early 20th Century until her death mid-century. A workaholic when crafting poems, prose, plays or music, Millay found her voice in the structured forms of poetry becoming a master sonnet writer among other things.
Alas, the poetry movement in the late 1920’s was away from such structure and Millay found herself suddenly no longer the loci of poetry as she had been. No sooner had she won a Pulitzer the groundswell of new poetry tried to unsettle her.
She would not be moved.
Remaining true to her self and form she continued to refine her craft. Her posthumous collection Mine the Harvest reflects her dedication to her craft and her considerable ability.
Loaded with details of her course through life and her poetry this work opens doors on episodes of her life. Parsed in the analysis are snippets of poems used to support the argument - sometimes these lines seem to have other possible meanings not explored by the author.
The more recent Blood too Bright by Jerri Dell makes a great companion book and when read first gives the reader a greater appreciation of what Gurko faces in writing on Millay - Millay’s sister was uber protective of Millay’s legacy. This accounts for the positive profile delivered by Gurko without hint of problems discussed in the more modern What Lips My Lips Have Kissed and Savage Beauty.
Alas, the poetry movement in the late 1920’s was away from such structure and Millay found herself suddenly no longer the loci of poetry as she had been. No sooner had she won a Pulitzer the groundswell of new poetry tried to unsettle her.
She would not be moved.
Remaining true to her self and form she continued to refine her craft. Her posthumous collection Mine the Harvest reflects her dedication to her craft and her considerable ability.
Loaded with details of her course through life and her poetry this work opens doors on episodes of her life. Parsed in the analysis are snippets of poems used to support the argument - sometimes these lines seem to have other possible meanings not explored by the author.
The more recent Blood too Bright by Jerri Dell makes a great companion book and when read first gives the reader a greater appreciation of what Gurko faces in writing on Millay - Millay’s sister was uber protective of Millay’s legacy. This accounts for the positive profile delivered by Gurko without hint of problems discussed in the more modern What Lips My Lips Have Kissed and Savage Beauty.
May 12, 2022
2.5 stars. Short & concise biography but nothing truly wow worthy.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews