A Different Person: A Memoir
by James Ingram Merrill
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"A great American poet - winner of every major prize America can offer its poets, from the Pulitzer to the Bollingen - opens his life to us in a memoir that puts wit, sensibility, and elegance of mind to the service of unflinching autobiographical truth." "The memoir's central thread is Merrill's thirty-month sojourn in Europe. A youth of twenty-four, born to comfort and privilege, and now at a crossroads, he sets sail in 1950, with a young man's passionate expectations. Having sold his show more first book of poems, having recently met ("or so I thought") the love of his life, yet beginning to feel constrained by his social circles, and seeing no way into the next phase of his life, he envisions himself returning from his travels "a different person." His vivid stories of encounters across Europe - with friends and lovers, with great cities, with great works of art, with opera, with psychoanalysis, with artists and aristocrats - are followed by postscripts reaching back to childhood and forward towards the present and the person he is. His memoir enthralls as a revelation of a poet's life, as a portrayal of the complexities that bind a son to his parents, and as perhaps the most lucid and inward account we have had of a homosexual life in a world of intellect and art. A fascinating work. A literary event."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved show lessTags
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If your father ever knew about your life it would be the death of him. from A Different Person by James Merrill
In 1950, after the publication of his first book of poetry, the twenty-four-year-old James Merrill went to Europe. He planned to rendezvous with his lover, and had planned visits from his father and sister. The trip was meant to be life altering.
Merrill was the son of one of the founders of Merrill Lynch. In Europe, he could be more open about his relationships with men, past and present.
Abroad, Merrill failed at writing a novel. He saw his relationship deteriorate. He started seeing a psychoanalyst. He visited the sights, enjoyed operas and art.
The memoir is a view of youth from the vantagepoint of age, each chapter ending show more with notes and comments.
The writing is wonderful, from the first line. “Meaning to stay as long as possible, I sailed for Europe. It was March 1950. New York and most of the people I knew had begun to close in. Or to put it differently, I felt that I alone in this or that circle of friends could see no way into the next phase.[…] Was I ever coming back? Yes, yes, one of these days. But of course I would be a different person then.”
A classic coming of age story of a young gay man.
Thanks to Vintage for a free book. show less
In 1950, after the publication of his first book of poetry, the twenty-four-year-old James Merrill went to Europe. He planned to rendezvous with his lover, and had planned visits from his father and sister. The trip was meant to be life altering.
Merrill was the son of one of the founders of Merrill Lynch. In Europe, he could be more open about his relationships with men, past and present.
Abroad, Merrill failed at writing a novel. He saw his relationship deteriorate. He started seeing a psychoanalyst. He visited the sights, enjoyed operas and art.
The memoir is a view of youth from the vantagepoint of age, each chapter ending show more with notes and comments.
The writing is wonderful, from the first line. “Meaning to stay as long as possible, I sailed for Europe. It was March 1950. New York and most of the people I knew had begun to close in. Or to put it differently, I felt that I alone in this or that circle of friends could see no way into the next phase.[…] Was I ever coming back? Yes, yes, one of these days. But of course I would be a different person then.”
A classic coming of age story of a young gay man.
Thanks to Vintage for a free book. show less
Europe in the 1950s from the vantage point of a young gay man, this very personal memoir recounts a short period in the life of one of our finest poets. I would recommend it both to fans of James Merrill and American poetry.
Wonderfully written book by Gay author
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61+ Works 2,104 Members
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- Genres
- Biography & Memoir, Poetry, Fiction and Literature, LGBTQ+, Literature Studies and Criticism
- DDC/MDS
- 811.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American poetry 20th Century 1945-1999
- LCC
- PS3525 .E6645 .Z464 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1900-1960
- BISAC
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- 148
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- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.33)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 2
