false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166499357m/12335.jpg 12335 8 Fans of <I>Zelda</I>, Nancy Milford's groundbreaking (and bestselling) biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald's tortured wife and muse, have been waiting impatiently since 1970 for Milford's promised follow-up about poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950). It's finally here, and they will not be disappointed. Milford's vivid narrative limns an electric personality with psychological acuity while capturing the freewheeling atmosphere of America in the turbulent years following World War I. After "Renascence" was published (when she was only 20) and she moved to Greenwich Village, Millay was the queen of bohemia, taking lovers with zest and voicing the reckless gaiety of a generation in her famous lyric, "My candle burns at both ends; / It will not last the night; / But, ah, my foes, and, oh, my friends-- / It gives a lovely light." With her flame-red hair, milk-white skin, and a voice that thrilled audiences (making her poetry readings a welcome source of income), Millay was the archetypal "new woman": powerful, passionate, and not to be ignored. But Milford makes it clear that her first loyalty was to her mother and sisters, and her deepest commitment to her writing. This juicy chronicle has famous names aplenty--critic Edmund Wilson and <I>Masses</I> editor Floyd Dell were among the men devastated by her refusal to be faithful--and lots of dissipation: Millay drank heavily and became addicted to morphine. It also takes a perceptive look at how an artist draws material from her life and at the strategies she uses to protect the wellsprings of creativity. Brief passages interspersed throughout delineating Milford's interactions with Norma Millay, the poet's younger sister and literary executor, might have been self-indulgent and self-aggrandizing; instead they offer intriguing snapshots of the complex process by which biography is made. The resulting book is a tour de force, and wildly entertaining as well. <I>--Wendy Smith</I> 14641 2001 Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay total:1191|5:384|4:518|3:237|2:41|1:11| 1191 4796 1859 199 4 2 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 29 09:06:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 29 09:06:00 -0700 2007
The story of Edna is beyond fascinating. This sort-of homely girl from Maine u...more...]]> 2 3 true false Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Jan 08 08:40:50 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 08 08:48:29 -0800 2008
That aside, I wasn't really a tremendous fan of the book. I loved Milford...more...]]> 5 2 false false Wed Aug 01 14:25:32 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 01 14:28:45 -0700 2007
The book itself is incredibly well researched, really delving into the wild life of this amazing women.

She's not really someone you can idolize or l...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Apr 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 06:22:04 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 21:20:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri Jul 25 11:57:08 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 12:08:42 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Jul 02 13:05:15 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 02 13:05:43 -0700 2008 I began this book not having the slightest idea about Edna St. Vincent Millay other than a few poems of hers I remembered from a poetry collection, and came away from it enthralled as much with the story as I was with the care Nancy Milford took in ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Jun 06 12:07:54 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 13:37:08 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 06 12:07:54 -0700 2008
In this particular case, the biographer is carefu...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Dec 17 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jun 22 08:13:20 -0700 2007 Thu Feb 21 06:50:32 -0800 2008
First, I must admit my own ignorance when it comes to much of Millay's work. I think I was surprised by how well-known she was in her day. I took advanced English courses in high school, studied English quite a bit in college, an...more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 20 07:54:52 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 25 21:11:37 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Sat Sep 01 22:45:20 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 01 22:47:47 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jun 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 12:30:54 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 12:52:01 -0700 2009 driven -- poet. Her story is riveting if you can forgive her refusal to be born in a more accessible age. Had she been a beat poet of the 1960s, for instance, these stories of free love and a dazzling stage presence (she sold out audien...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Jun 06 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat May 31 22:33:10 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 11 06:44:50 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Mon Dec 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 18:56:14 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 19:41:59 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Aug 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 00:46:21 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 01:07:37 -0700 2009 I found the author's insertion of herself into t...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 04 14:05:25 -0800 2009 Thu Sep 10 16:55:09 -0700 2009 ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon May 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 30 21:01:53 -0700 2008 Thu May 28 09:43:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon May 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 30 01:00:13 -0700 2008 Mon May 26 19:21:50 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Nov 15 05:10:20 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 15 05:10:30 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Nov 14 08:10:16 -0800 2007 Wed Nov 14 08:24:58 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 12 16:07:01 -0800 2007 Sat Jan 05 23:16:05 -0800 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=12335