Elizabeth Bishop's World War II - Cold War View

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Summary: Seeing Elizabeth Bishop in New Ways
Review: Camille Roman's ELIZABETH BISHOP'S WORLD WAR II - COLD WAR VIEW opens up intriguing new ways to understand this great poet.

Taking a cultural studies approach, Roman shines a bright light on Bishop's life and poems. She argues that Bishop was alienated from aspects of mainstream American culture--its militarism and social injustices. She shows that Bishop was a far more politically-engaged poet than one might think. The interpretation of such poems as "Roosters," "View of the Capitol from the Library of Congress," and "12 O'Clock News" are eye-opening and thought-provoking.

This is now an essential book for anyone interested in the ways Elizabeth Bishop's poems intersect with American cultural and political history.

Rating:
Summary: Elizabeth Bishop's World War II: Cold War View
Review: This is an in-depth and insightful chronicling of Elizabeth Bishop's life and work during the "war years" and immediately following. Particularly interesting to me were portions of letters quoted and particulars regarding situations which were current at the time. Further, I am most pleased to see some recognition of a woman as a serious contender in the field of contemporary American literature. We should, as well, consider that the author of this work is a woman writing about a woman.