Customer Reviews

One Art: Letters of Elizabeth Bishop

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I was a junior in college when I first read this book and subsequently viewed some of Elizabeth Bishop's handwritten poems/manuscripts/letters, etc. at the New York Public Library's Hand of the Poet exhibit. I was in love, enthralled, forever changed by this amazing woman's poems and her voice. These letters are an intimate look into the life of one of the most talented and elusive poets of the 20th Century. What a life of heartbreak and obstacle and yet she remained keenly interested in the human challenge--and amazingly connected to those she knew. In this age where the art of communication has been nearly wholly lost, to read this collection of letters is like stepping back in time. Bishop reminds us that the most important connections are those we make with others--and that taking the time to put pen to paper and to fully observe our world is the most priceless gift. I cannot recommend this collection highly enough. Buy one for yourself and one for any young person you know. Inspire yourself to write letters and learn from a true master. Bishop's voice and the intricacies of her personality shine through in this collection. A rare find from a rare and truly incredible poet.

In this amazing collection of Elizabeth Bishop's selected letters, all of the various nuances of her most personal voice --warm, intimate, keenly observant, whimsical and humorous, generous, shy, gutwrenchingly honest, decorous and demure -- come through with astonishing human clarity. Bishop's engaging and elegant epistolary style makes reading One Art almost like reading an epistolary novel. The collection certainly functions as a fascinatingly candid biography of the somewhat shy and elusive Bishop, and also provides marvelous glimpses of both her writing processes, and the contextual background against which many of her poems emerged. Mostly, though, I found myself liking Elizabeth Bishop to excess . . . her humor, her eye for detail, her weirdly shy and modest charisma, even her flaws . . . and wishing that I could have been one of her inner circle of friends receiving these wonderful letters.

These letters provide a fascinating insight into the poet, who was as compelling in prose as in poetry. I love Bishop's work, and I am enjoying this book!