Reviews for Letters to an editor: [Michael Schmidt, editorial director of the Carcanet Press, from contemporary literary figures]

The average rating for Letters to an editor: [Michael Schmidt, editorial director of the Carcanet Press, from contemporary literary figures] based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-08-07 00:00:00 Calib Batten Fully aware that his subject was not a fan of literary biography, Edward Mendelson has provided a readable and often moving account of W.H. Auden's life and work from the poet's arrival in New York in 1939 until his death in 1973. As Auden's literary executor, Mendelson had access to drafts, journals, letters, and lecture transcripts as well as the various published editions of the poems, so he is able to trace the changes in Auden's thought and poetic practice. Sometimes overstating the case for the influence of Auden's reading on his poetry, finding verbal echoes that could be coincidental, he does quote liberally from both poems and prose. Since I read about Auden's fondness for the Oxford English Dictionary at a time when I was discovering that indispensable reference, I was glad to see examples of OED-derived vocabulary here. After reading and seeing Alan Bennett's The Habit of Art, I needed reminding why I admired Auden, and Mendelson's book is an effective reminder.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-04-11 00:00:00 Sean Ross If you are interested in Auden, his life and his works, this is the book to read. Extraordinary is an understatement.