Reviews for Robert Lowell's life and work

The average rating for Robert Lowell's life and work based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-03-24 00:00:00 Mike Richardson Hamilton has written a very interesting biography of a very complex poet. I hardly knew anything about Robert Lowell before reading this biography, having only read a handful of his poems and merely glanced through his famous "Life Studies." Although I wanted some more detail in places (I seem to always feel this way after reading a biography and perhaps it is an unfair critique), I think Hamilton has done a fine job of informing readers about the tumultuous life of Lowell ('Cal'). I found myself alternately pitying and hating Lowell. His manic illness caused him to act in unbelievably cruel ways at times and I mostly felt immense admiration for his second wife of 23 years, Elizabeth Hardwick, for helping her troubled husband through these times (despite his many infidelities). It has become clear to me that Lowell was a man of immense genius. He was also proud, spiteful, conceited, and egotistical. These are human flaws and ones he easily recognized and often admitted shamefully to friends. Known as one of the fathers of 'confessional poetry' he has been both admired and berated for his use of autobiography in his work. In his poem, "Unwanted", he somewhat regretfully admits, "Alas, I can only tell my own story." A superb biography and great starting point for anyone interested in Lowell's life and work. A favorite quote (which Lowell repeated to himself daily) - "My dreams at night are so intoxicating to me that I am willing to put on the nothingness of sleep. My dreams in the morning are so intoxicating to me that I am willing to go on living."

Review # 2 was written on 2008-05-24 00:00:00 Scott Batcheller I enjoy this genre a lot, the literary biography, and this one seemed to do a good job of describing the life, times and poetry of Robert Lowell. Lowell was manic-depressive, and it was incredible to me how he managed to work, a prolific poet and teacher, despite having to be hospitalized almost every year with mania and delusion. The book follows the evolution of his poetry, his friendships with other well-known poets, his acquaintance with the Kennedys, his three marriages, especially his long marriage to the critic and essayist Elizabeth Hardwick, who stayed with him (until their breakup) through his many, many manic episodes, which always included colossal, out-in-the-open obsessions and affairs with other women, and his many hospitalizations. A short, brilliant, and very often sad life, with a legacy of some of the 20th century's most remarkable poetry.