William Carlos Williams: A New World Naked

by Paul Mariani

In addition to being a small-town doctor who delivered more than 3,000 babies, William Carlos Williams was a deeply serious thinker considered on of the foremost poets of the century. In this remarkable, rich blend of art and scholarship, Paul Mariani unfolds Williams' life and times while simultaneously letting the reader inside the poet's mind and language. Photographs.

Genres: Poetry, Biography, History, Nonfiction

874 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed reading this book, although I've still not quite finished it. It does tend to go on longer than the biographies of poets who destroyed themselves early through heavy drinking, although Williams was disabled before he died by stroke.

There are quotes from his letters throughout the book which I relished to the extent that they expressed a dissatisfaction with what he perceived as phoniness in the established poetry order.

Although there is much I'm sympathetic to in William's rebellious aesthetic, I must admit I find it more compelling in theory than it was in his practice. Still, an interesting, thoughtful life.

[Theresa Leone Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dense biography of the physician / poet, written with a lot of enthusiasm for the subject. Its biggest drawback may be that it was TOO enthusiastic and included so many unnecessary details that at times it became difficult to read. Nevertheless, if you want to know about Williams, it's all here, everything good about him, how valuable his patients believed him to be, the intricacy of his poems and how seriously he took his craft, and everything flawed about his character, including all of the affairs he had while he was married.

[GK Stritch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite the tome and achievement, thrilled to attend the Sixth Biennial Conference of the William Carlos Williams Society at William Paterson University, June 18-20, 2015, but sorry Paul Mariani won't be there. This is a big read, so grab your spectacles and settle down with the 800-plus pages--does get a bit heavy to hold, does get long, and at times the subject remains elusive. Not sure who this complex WCW is, so now I'm compelled to read his autobiography and go back to the complicated Paterson and read more Eliot and Stevens.

[Tony Gualtieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography. The author clearly loves and understands Williams' poetry and the book is a good guide to his works, especially Paterson.

[Paul Wilner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitive, deeply researched and devotional - this is a defense brief, as well as a biography, making the case for Williams' continuing importance. At 700 plus pages, it's also a bit of a doorstop, but it held my attention (I could have done with a little less on WCW's lifelong exploration of the "variable foot,'' - important to his development but less important, ultimately, than the poems themselves.) I learned things I didn't know - including WCW's getting shamefully redbaited out of a Library of Congress consultantship during the McCarthy era, after this least ideological of men had suffered a major stroke. (His crime: writing for some leftie magazines and signing petitions.)
He touched so many lives - stayed loyal to his crazed school friend Ezra Pound while remonstrating against his anti-Semitism and rank egotism. Mentored Ginsberg, too many others to mention.
A valiant life, he kept on writing till the end. A side note: I foolishly Googled to see the reviews of Mariani's book when it came out, only to find a dismissively snide notice from Anatole Broyard of the Times which described both the biographer, and the poet, as "coarse.'' A prophet goes without honor in his own land, indeed.

[David Bjorlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Rebecca Bridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I was going to enjoy this book more than I did. It just started to feel very long, but it still had a lot of interesting facts and what nots in it, if you're into biographies.

[Bradthad Codgeroger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just to say....jk, not doing that. Amazingly thorough biography that focuses on "Paterson" to the point where if I don't read it I will never forgive myself.