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Rating: Summary: A well rounded biography of a great confessional poet. Review: Diane Wood Middlebrook's biography of Anne Sexton was balanced and insightful enough so as not to be too intrusive; it is simple and direct, as I believe this biography ought to be. It could be much more. True. But that would somehow seem indecent. It is a written work that will tantalize many readers to want to know more of Sexton's earlier life and later chaotic often disgusting behavior. Anne Sexton did indeed have some major psychological problems. She envied Sylvia Plath's suicide and inflicted mental abuse on her family that trangressed the boundries of chaotic. She has often been criticized for the themes that she used in her poetry: her mental breakdowns, her severe shortcomings as a wife and mother, her liberal use of female bodily sexuality, her 'womanism' and other scattered amorphous problems that she endured but that is not fully covered with very much depth in this work. To deny Sexton's mentle problems or attribute her abhorrent behavior to simple staments that she 'wanted attention' is to cast away the deamons that led her to commit suicide in the first place or write the highly noted poems "The Operation" in All My Pretty Ones, for which she garnered a National Book Award nomination or "Mother And Jack And The Rain" or "Menstruation At Forty" in Live or Die, for which she won the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. This biography has also been condemmed for the use of private conversations that Sexton had with her psychiatrist, Dr. Martin Orne, a fact that had and still does many in the profession gravely unhappy. In the forward and book jacket to The Complete Poems of Anne Sexton by her friend and fellow poet, Maxine Kumin, she states: "The stuff of Anne's life, mercilessly dissected, is here in the poems. Of all the confessional poets, none has had quite Sexton's 'courage to make a clean breast of it' ...Anne Sexton has earned her place in the cannon." Whatever her morals (or lack of them) or major priorities which always came second, she was one hell of a fantastic, little understood poet who truly added something unique to the genre.
Rating: Summary: Anne is my Kind of woman Review: I am drenched in Sexton,
now I only wish I could write a poem as well as her-
minus the insanity!
"I live, Live because of the sun,
the dream, the excitable gift." -AS-
I loved this biography. I love Anne Sexton. I love her poetry, images, confessional style. I would love to sit with her, have a glass of merlot, discuss what works in a poem, what doesn't. I would say..."Anne, does being crazy help one write a brilliant poem?"
"I am really quite normal for being crazy." Anne said.
"It's very embarrassing for someone to expose their body to you. You don't learn anything from it. But if they expose their soul, you learn something. That's true of great writers."
And Anne does expose her soul completely, ...but then, this is what makes her interesting, isn't it? This is what makes us want to know her, read her poems, read this biography.
-The woman is bathing her heart.
It has been torn out of her
and because it is burnt
and as a last act
she is rinsing it off in the river.
This is the death market.- AS-
I feel without poetry Anne Sexton could not have lived at all; without poetry she would have been in a mental institution and none of us would have been able to savor her gorgeous words.
With poetry, she lived the best way she knew how.
"Anne Sexton a Biography" reveals much about the woman, the wife, the mother, the friend, the lover, and the artist.
The reader may feel sorry for her, hate her, despise her, or worship the ground she walks on.
I am still trying to figure it out, but one things for sure...Anne was far from boring.
"One of my secret instructions to myself as a poet is - whatever you do, don't be boring. Every poem owns itself, has it's own voice; the poet is an actor, producing a character out of words." -AS-
Ohhh, Anne Sexton is anything but boring. Middlebrook did her job well, giving us every single imperfection of the poet-
every pill, drink, affair, kinky, sexual desire...
but don't worry---It's truly about the POETRY, the beautiful, flowing, musical poetry.
--- My nerves are turned on. I hear them like
musical instruments. Where there was silence the drums, the strings are incurably playing. You did this.
Pure genius at work. Darling, the composer has stepped
into fire. -AS-
The reader will step into fire also***a must read for Sexton fans.
Rating: Summary: great bio Review: Middlebrook wrote a pretty good biography of one of our more important poets, though I'll say that Sexton is an example of the artist being more interesting than the art. What makes this biography so exceptional is the access Middlebrook had--she had access to Sexton's psychiatric tapes. Middlebrook can really give a full account of Sexton's life and psyche. And believe me, that woman was really screwed up.
Rating: Summary: Excellent Biography of a Tormented Soul! Review: One of the best biographies I have read in years. I think I can now better understand Ms. Sexton's poetry and her madness. What a profound effect our childhood's have on our entire life. I highly recommend this book to Sexton lovers. You'll come away with a deeper understanding and love of her poetry.
Rating: Summary: Psychiatrist overstepped; did it help? Review: Patient records are privileged; Dr. Orne justifies releasing tapes of Anne Sexton's therapy because the daughter of A.S. approved. He wrote the preface to the book, displaying a rather passive attitude to the malfeasance of the therapist who slept with A.S. And does the end--understanding creativity/a poet's life and death--justify the means? Do outpourings in therapy tell readers about where creativity comes from, how it is shaped, the interplay of life and art? I doubt it. People "edit" their therapy talk, too, though differently from their public utterings. Readers may be seduced by these secrets, hoping to find answers that cannot be given, even--maybe especially--by therapists. I think the biographer overplays her hand, and might have done a better book without the controversial tapes.
Rating: Summary: Ok, she's not dull-witted Review: The biographer here had an unusual advantage: Anne Sexton's daughter gave her access to taped sessions Sexton's psychiatrist had made of his sessions with Sexton. This disclosure of what are normally privileged sessions raised eyebrows, but I did not find the disclosure obtained from these tapes that revealing. It was obvious to anyone who came into contact with her that Sexton was a very disturbed person, and her doctor does not seem to have come to a definitive diagnosis. It may well be that she suffered from some physical defect of the brain that could not be diagnosed during her lifetime.What is clear is that Sexton made life difficult for those closest to her, such as her husband and her children. Wildly unstable, she demanded more than anyone could give, and gave back little in return. On the other hand, she was one of the major poets of her time, and talented writers can get away with being miserable people. A weakness of this book is that it not very strong on Sexton's poetry, which is the only reason people are interested in her. Still, it is well researched, and is likely to remain useful to those interested in Sexton for years to come.
Rating: Summary: An interesting biography of a major confessional poet. Review: The biographer here had an unusual advantage: Anne Sexton's daughter gave her access to taped sessions Sexton's psychiatrist had made of his sessions with Sexton. This disclosure of what are normally privileged sessions raised eyebrows, but I did not find the disclosure obtained from these tapes that revealing. It was obvious to anyone who came into contact with her that Sexton was a very disturbed person, and her doctor does not seem to have come to a definitive diagnosis. It may well be that she suffered from some physical defect of the brain that could not be diagnosed during her lifetime. What is clear is that Sexton made life difficult for those closest to her, such as her husband and her children. Wildly unstable, she demanded more than anyone could give, and gave back little in return. On the other hand, she was one of the major poets of her time, and talented writers can get away with being miserable people. A weakness of this book is that it not very strong on Sexton's poetry, which is the only reason people are interested in her. Still, it is well researched, and is likely to remain useful to those interested in Sexton for years to come.
Rating: Summary: A psychoanalytic assessment of Sexton. Review: This novel utilizes records from the thousands of hours of therapy Sexton underwent (most notably with Dr. Martin Orne). As a result of this, the slant of this biography is more psychological than previous books. It is scrupulously detailed though, which is a real treat for those who want to know what her life was on a micro-level. It is fascinating to read the excerpts of her therapy sessions and then be able to relate her actions to her psychological state of mind and see how all of it influenced her poetry. This is not a particularly literary biography - so if you are a PhD in Literature, it probably won't add anything to your understanding of Sexton's use of meter or rhyme schemes. It rigorously follows the events of her life but does not spend much time on her formative years. However, the scope and depth of Middlebrook's psychological research is wonderful, and someone who appreciates both psychology and literature will enjoy this book immeasureably.
Rating: Summary: A psychoanalytic assessment of Sexton. Review: This novel utilizes records from the thousands of hours of therapy Sexton underwent (most notably with Dr. Martin Orne). As a result of this, the slant of this biography is more psychological than previous books. It is scrupulously detailed though, which is a real treat for those who want to know what her life was on a micro-level. It is fascinating to read the excerpts of her therapy sessions and then be able to relate her actions to her psychological state of mind and see how all of it influenced her poetry. This is not a particularly literary biography - so if you are a PhD in Literature, it probably won't add anything to your understanding of Sexton's use of meter or rhyme schemes. It rigorously follows the events of her life but does not spend much time on her formative years. However, the scope and depth of Middlebrook's psychological research is wonderful, and someone who appreciates both psychology and literature will enjoy this book immeasureably.
Rating: Summary: Essential reading for biography and poetry fans alike Review: You don't have to be a poetry afficianado to find this uniquely well-researched biography fascinating. Middlebrook makes ample use of the beautiful-but-mad-housewife-turned-poet angle, but does the more challenging job of examining the contradictions between Sexton and her work. Controversial access to Sexton's therapy records aside, Middlebrook explores the humanity behind a disturbed (and disturbing) woman who used any means at her disposal--sex, therapy (at the same time, in some instances), alcohol, drugs, her children and her poetry--in an attempt to stay afloat.
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