Customer Reviews

By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept

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Simply breathtaking - a unique account in magical prose poetry of all consuming love, which you will return to again and again. Almost too painfully visceral at times, snapshots of sheer beauty leap out of the page as you ride the non-stop vertical drop on the rollercoaster of their relationship - not for the faint or hard hearted.

A remarkable book by a remarkable woman, By Grand Central Station captures the almost hallucinatory, painfully intense experience of a powerful love affair. By no means a "novel" with the expectations that term raises of plots and carefully delineated characters, the book reshapes already dramatic true events into brief but grand art (Smart's circa 1940 pursuit of the then-famous poet George Barker--based entirely on her love of his writing--her discovery that he already had a wife, and the necessarily tragic passion that ensued).

The book tells this story, but through a beautifully crafted howl of language. At times, the writing has the richness and cadence of scripture which sets it worlds apart from conventional prose. You can read it again two years later and feel like you've returned to the Catholic mass after years of "sensible" agnosticism.

If you like a story told more straightly (for it does take a certain kind of sensibility to savor this howl) read Rosemary Sullivan's excellent biography of Smart, BY HEART. It's hard to beat the saga of her decades-long affair with Barker, her subjugation of her genius to his and to the four children they conceived...and ultimately, of the way this cult book was rediscovered in the 1960s and brought her a fame that would completely eclipse his.

Scathing, deeply poetic rant of obssessive love forced into obssessive hate. Deep and lasting, based on the author's actual experiences.

this is simply one of my favorite books. buy it. read it and give it to someone who will love it. i gave my copy to Edward Ka-Spel.

this book is my bible and comfort, its a shame it is so often overlooked

In this incredible piece of prosaic poetry, Smart tells the story of the greatest love affair of her life. This book literally rips you from the passionate highs of ecstatic love to the agonizing lows of a love that has ended. Born into the high society, this is Smart's account of her great love for the poet George Barker, and told as powerfully as any love story that I have ever read

This book should be required reading for anyone who has ever loved, or ever plans to.