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Loading... Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millayby Nancy Milford
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Loved this book. Read it first, then picked up Epstein's bio of Millay, published the same year, after reading some on-line reviews. Many don't like Milford's book because of its length and, I would say, her tendency to report rather than process the results of her in-depth research. I enjoy both bios and see them as companions to each other, but if you don't want to spend that much time learning about Millay, I would recommend Epstein's book over Milford's book. Both authors used essentially the same resources, although Milford had the added advantage of personal interviews with Millay's sister Norma before her death in 1986. Milford is a better researcher than an author, but both are well-researched; Epstein is a better writer. (  ) onefear | Sep 24, 2009 |  I really wanted to like this book, but can't recommend it. (I loved the author's biography of Zelda Fitzgerald, however.) While the book is certainly well-researched, and well-written, it needs a good editor to (a) fill in the cracks of information the author left out, but which are vital to understanding a setting or a person; (b) make information consistent -- e.g. she's called by several different names throughout the book with no explanation as to the change -- and (c) generally improve the structure. Someday when I feel more dedicated to Ms. Millay's memory, I'll finish it. And it's MILFORD, not Mitford, which is another family altogether. :) (  ) majorbabs | Jun 18, 2009 | Nancy Mitford presents a thorough, insightful, compelling, and penetrating look at one of America's premier poets. Working with Ms. Millay's sister Norma, who holds most of the papers not in the Library of Congress, she was able to construct an impressive and deeply detailed biography. In fact, I often felt at times like shouting "Too much information!" Millay, her husband, her sisters, her mother, and most of her lovers/friends of both sexes seemed to be inveterent letter writers. Not only did they write letters, they often left numerous drafts of those letters giving us an intimate portrait of emotions, intentions, and life in the first half of the twentieth century. In addition, there are numerous samples of her poetry, used to illustrate the various passions and favorites in her life. Alas, our herione led a less than stellar life depending on one's perspective. At times I tired of her pouting promiscuity, her incessant mooching on the generosity of others, the constant indebtedness, and the incredible selfishness which most who knew her seemed to regard as part of her genius. In spite of the subject's tragic life and end, the author presents us with her life in an objective yet sympathetic way without passing judgment. That made it easy to read and recommend the book to others. ( )1  tututhefirst | May 30, 2009 | Wow, what a complex woman, that Edna St. Vincent Millay. And what talent.....ahhh. What a bohemian life. In the 1920s!!! (and onward). I would say she was quite...avant gard (sp?). I enjoyed the biographer's writing style - very engaging. P.S.-I keep re-reading this book.........it is devlishly delightful to read! (  )1 smiler7700 | Oct 11, 2007 | What a wonderfully written biography of one of the greatest and most controversial writers of our time. Recommended. (  )1 writestuff | Jan 20, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Amazon.com's Best of 2001 (ISBN 0375760814, Paperback)Fans of Zelda, Nancy Milford's groundbreaking (and bestselling) biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald's tortured wife and muse, have been waiting impatiently since 1970 for Milford's promised follow-up about poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950). It's finally here, and they will not be disappointed. Milford's vivid narrative limns an electric personality with psychological acuity while capturing the freewheeling atmosphere of America in the turbulent years following World War I. After "Renascence" was published (when she was only 20) and she moved to Greenwich Village, Millay was the queen of bohemia, taking lovers with zest and voicing the reckless gaiety of a generation in her famous lyric, "My candle burns at both ends; / It will not last the night; / But, ah, my foes, and, oh, my friends-- / It gives a lovely light." With her flame-red hair, milk-white skin, and a voice that thrilled audiences (making her poetry readings a welcome source of income), Millay was the archetypal "new woman": powerful, passionate, and not to be ignored. But Milford makes it clear that her first loyalty was to her mother and sisters, and her deepest commitment to her writing. This juicy chronicle has famous names aplenty--critic Edmund Wilson and Masses editor Floyd Dell were among the men devastated by her refusal to be faithful--and lots of dissipation: Millay drank heavily and became addicted to morphine. It also takes a perceptive look at how an artist draws material from her life and at the strategies she uses to protect the wellsprings of creativity. Brief passages interspersed throughout delineating Milford's interactions with Norma Millay, the poet's younger sister and literary executor, might have been self-indulgent and self-aggrandizing; instead they offer intriguing snapshots of the complex process by which biography is made. The resulting book is a tour de force, and wildly entertaining as well. --Wendy Smith(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:53 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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