From Library Journal
With the second set of titles released in this innovative tape-and-small-book package (which includes text of the poems read, photos, and a short biographical essay), editor J.D. McClatchy continues to present some of the most esteemed modern poets in a highly listenable format. It's a delight to see Bishop, a fine poet whose work is too often overlooked, included. Culled from the few sparse recordings made between 1947 and 1977, her voice ages and then is suddenly young again, adding to the playful tone of many poems, not often recognized on the page. The majority of works read by Lowell are from his groundbreaking confessional volume Life Studies, but McClatchy rightly couches it between earlier and later pieces, demonstrating how they developed out of a classical exploration of his heritage, which lasted the rest of his life. Sexton, once Lowell's student, wrote confessional poetry constructed from "a poor middle-class life, nothing extraordinary." This listener could not have said it better. Sexton might have inspired generations of women writers, but, placed beside some of the masters of our time, her work pales quickly.ARochelle Ratner, formerly with "Soho Weekly News," New York
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Inside Flap
Read by the Poet
One Cassette, 1 hour
The second installment of our exclusive
The Voice of the Poet series, comprised of rare archival recordings, some never before released, featuring Robert Lowell.
This audio production is accompanied by a book containing the text to the poems and a commentary by J.D. McClatchy.
