Anne Sexton Reads [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Anne Sexton (Author, Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 24, 1993

This recording, made shortly before Sexton's death, includes readings of 24 poems selected from different periods in her creative life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Her voice remains a distinctive one in American poetry of the past half century." -- -- J.D. McClatchy --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Anne Sexton (1928-1974) was born in Newton, Massachusetts. On the advice of her therapist, she began writing poetry in 1957 and soon established herself and developed her distinctive voice. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1967. She committed suicide in 1974. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: HarperAudio; abridged edition edition (August 24, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155994837X
• ISBN-13: 978-1559948371
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,971,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harrowingly Beautiful, November 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Anne Sexton Reads (Audio Cassette)

This recording, made a few short months before Sexton's death, is a remarkable document for anyone interested in Sexton, confessional poetry, or American literature in general. The selection of poems is at once characteristic of Sexton's work without becoming overly monotonous in tone or subject, but it is really the sound of the author's own voice that makes the poetry come alive. Sexton's dark voice adds an element of authenticity to these poems that is perhaps lost when they are read silently. Her convincing reading is truly a testament to her own tortured yet beautifully rendered artistic vision.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anne's poetry swims back to me, April 12, 2004

By 

Kim Robinson "siammuse" (Duluth, MN. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anne Sexton Reads (Audio Cassette)

How absolutely superb to be read to by Anne Sexton...

That husky, sexy, deep cigarette voice-- reads her own poetry so beautifully, that nobody else could have done it justice, except Anne herself.

I love her poetry...."Music Swims Back To Me" is deliciously devine!!!!!!

Wait Mister. Which way is home?
They turned the light out
and the dark is moving in the corner.
There are no sign posts in this room,
four ladies, over eighty,
in diapers every one of them.
La la la, Oh music swims back to me
and I can feel the tune they played
the night they left me
in this private institution on a hill.... Anne Sexton

Get the audio! Get in a hot-bath and let Anne read to you!
You won't be disappointed!!!!!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sound of Immortality, December 26, 2000

By 

Erik S. Bloom (Tempe, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anne Sexton Reads (Audio Cassette)

Having to read the seminal poetry of Sexton--in my view a giant in the world of poetry (regarding just her talent for words alone, never mind her being a woman, etc., etc.)--and having to have fallen so deeply and intimately in love with the work--without ever having the opportunity to HEAR and LISTEN to her recite these masterpieces; well, that would be somewhat akin to having been given the gallies of all of Bob Dylan's lyrics, and never getting the chance to hear him sing[ing] them.Listening to her reading these words which I had known and admired for so long, and never knowing what her voice was like; finally hearing her speak the lines was like being in the room with a ghost who could make you hear her voice. Strangely, I felt throughout that I had known the voice all along...