Elizabeth Bishop: The Biography of a PoetryPart biography, part critical detective work, and part poet's intuitive insight, this is a fascinating account of Elizabeth Bishop, the person and the poet. Goldensohn conjures up an image which illuminates, the many dualisms and polarities of her subject's life. She charts the complex evolution of Bishop's poetry, looking at the radical breaks and inconsistencies in the process of leading Bishop to the culmination of her late poetry. She demonstrates how Bishop's lifelong friendships with the poets Marianne Moore and Robert Lowell illuminated aesthetic and moral choice for all three poets. Goldensohn also explores Bishop's relations to Nova Scotia, New England, and subtropical Brazil, and covers her alcoholism and lesbianism. ISBN 0-231-07662-2: $29.95. |
