Conrad Aiken: Poet of White Horse Vale

by Edward Butscher

Book by Butscher, Edward

512 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1988

Reviews

[SallyStenger]

This book is a biography of Conrad Aiken from birth until approximately age 30. It was intended as the first volume of a two-volume biography, but apparently the second volume was never written. It goes into a good deal of detail about the author's early life. I thought it was interesting because it clarified for me how he was able to live while writing poetry. He obtained a legacy, not from his parents, who didn't really leave any money, but from his great-great-aunt, who was wealthy, and was persuaded to leave the four orphans a portion of her money. The legacy was divided into four equal portions, so Conrad got $20,000. At that time that was a lot of money, and was enough to pay for Harvard plus enough extra to provide him with a modest income, which he supplemented with such things as writing reviews. The time period covered goes through his first marriage to Jessie McDonald, but does not cover his divorce. I thought it was good because I have already read Ushant and the biography by his second wife. However I wish that the biographer could have continued. It provides a good deal of detail on the New York and English literary scene during the teens and twenties. I think the author could have skipped some of his Freudian analysis because it was unnecessary. I found it a rather slow read because I kept looking up various references, but though slow, it was very interesting. 518 pages including notes, bibliography, and index.