May Sarton Among the Usual Days [Hardcover]

May Sarton (Author), Susan Sherman (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1993

A compilation of sections from Sarton's unpublished journals and letters, accompanied by more than 170 photographs, covers more than sixty years in the writer's life, with passages organized by subjects that reveal Sarton's growth both as a writer and as a person.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

For decades Sarton has been a successful writer, if not the darling both of the critics and the book-buying public. In a marketplace dominated by quick, easy reads, Sarton's thought and art are marked by an old-fashioned volubility. Her indomitable spirit is positively inspiring: "the only creative way is dissatisfaction, relentless self-criticism, and a new start each time," she writes. Sherman has published excerpts from Sarton's unpublished writings in an ingenious format that groups the passages around common topics (writing, gardening, travel, etc.) and links them via Sherman's own comments. If some of the linking comments seem excessively worshipful of a writer who has had, at best, a modest impact on contemporary letters, even readers who don't know or appreciate Sarton's work will recognize this book as a model compilation of its kind.
- David Kirby, Florida State Univ., Tallahassee
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Distilled from a voluminous body of letters and unpublished journals and poems gathered in several special-library collections across the country as well as in the author's personal archives, this intimate portrait is a significant addition to Sarton studies. Arranged, though without formal division, by subject (e.g., writing poetry, acting and the theater, European and American culture, books and authors, solitude, friendship, love--including homosexual love--gardens and flowers, the natural world, travels), the selections show not only Sarton's growth as a writer and a person, from as early as the age of eight, but also the constancy of her vision of art and life. Editor Susan Sherman's knowledgeable and sensitive commentary and careful documentation contribute substantially to what Sarton herself calls "far more revealing and accurate than any book I could have written." A real treasure for readers already acquainted with Sarton and her work, this collection will also be of interest to anyone whose concern with contemporary literature extends beyond the best-seller list. To be illustrated with photographs. Barbara Duree

Product Details

• Hardcover: 289 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition edition (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393034518
• ISBN-13: 978-0393034516
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

May Sarton is the pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton (May 3, 1912 - July 16, 1995), an American poet, novelist, and memoirist. Her parents were science historian George Sarton and his wife, the English artist Mabel Eleanor Elwes. In 1915, her family moved to Boston, Massachusetts. She went to school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and started theatre lessons in her late teens. In 1945 she met her partner for the next thirteen years, Judy Matlack, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They separated in 1956, when Sarton's father died and Sarton moved to Nelson, New Hampshire. Honey in the Hive (1988) is about their relationship. Sarton later moved to York, Maine. She died of breast cancer on July 16, 1995. She is buried in Nelson, New Hampshire.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never Surrender! The Anecdote That Defined May, October 18, 2005

By 

Katherine Graham "Katherine Graham" (Sparta, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: May Sarton Among the Usual Days (Hardcover)

When the late, great May Sarton was still with us...perhaps we had a treasure many took for granted. Here was a warrior woman from the early 20th century and throughout its many generations-of-changes, who made up her mind to go-it-alone as a literary artist helping to define for millions of people world-wide - what it means to be truly courageous and never surrender. We waited for each extraordinarily unique new journal to help us make it day to day. Not like many junk journals today but a true artistic genre ("Journal of a Solitude") in the tradition of the great Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield, and Dorothy Wordsworth. While critics disagreed as to the merit of her poetry, and novels, the people loved them - and like the spectacular Opera singer Andrea Bocelli - one cannot argue with demand that exceeds supply on a scale that skews the formulas and confounds the brains of bean counters everywhere. I, for one, hope and pray that May Sarton's incredible body of work will never be forgotten, and this astonishingly gorgeous book is a testament to her life and work and will stand as a great work of art to either start or end...in remembering that it is always worth the price to be valiant, true, passsionate and NEVER SURRENDER!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wow, November 30, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: May Sarton Among the Usual Days (Hardcover)

Read it. Explore these words and you will see that in all your life she can set you free. also...I have had a quote in my head for some time...can anyone tell me if May Sarton wrote this?... ...she became for me an island of light, fun and wisdom, where I could run with my discoveries, torments and hopes and always find welcome...

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars May Sarton, September 25, 2010

By 

Linda M. Dancker - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: May Sarton Among the Usual Days (Hardcover)

I bought this book for a friend. Never read it, thus I cannot review it.