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Anne Sexton: A Biography

4.14 of 5 stars 4.14 · rating details · 1,797 ratings · 71 reviews

Anne Sexton began writing poetry at the age of twenty-nine to keep from killing herself. She held on to language for dear life and somehow -- in spite of alcoholism and the mental illness that ultimately led her to suicide -- managed to create a body of work that won a Pulitzer Prize and that still sings to thousands of readers. This exemplary biography, which was nominate...more

Paperback, 528 pages

Published October 27th 1992 by Vintage (first published 1991)

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Apr 28, 2011 Jamie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: life-writing-biographies, read-in-2010, read-in-2011

It's a bit hard to imagine what another Anne Sexton biography might look like. I read this for the first time maybe two or three years ago, and remember thinking: 'what else could I possibly find out about AS's life?' This time around, however, I began to notice subjective directions Middlebrook had taken, paths, perhaps, another biographer would more powerfully emphasize or maybe ignore altogether. You can certainly hear the preference for a pseudo-psychoanalytic reading of her life and poetry...more It's a bit hard to imagine what another Anne Sexton biography might look like. I read this for the first time maybe two or three years ago, and remember thinking: 'what else could I possibly find out about AS's life?' This time around, however, I began to notice subjective directions Middlebrook had taken, paths, perhaps, another biographer would more powerfully emphasize or maybe ignore altogether. You can certainly hear the preference for a pseudo-psychoanalytic reading of her life and poetry in this biography; Middlebrook (also a literary critic) often employs the poems to 'illuminate' Anne's psyche at moments in her experience, or likewise proposes critical readings of the writing that are entirely dependent on the factual/historical details that correspond with their production. Which isn't to say that we all don't do this sort of reading, especially when handling confessional poetry, but that Middlebrook's style sometimes implies that such readings are self-evident, rather than inevitably partial, and often flawed. Not to mention, some things felt shadowy to me on this reading, where before they seemed obvious. But this time I think: why is Kayo such a non-presence in the biography? He makes vague appearances, but at the end, Middlebrook insists that AS's life fell apart because of her divorce from Kayo, who was the foundation of her stability. Yet, we only rarely receive 'insight' into his feelings on the marriage, his motivations and desires for the many years they were together. I felt I knew Kayo's mother (AS's mother-in-law) better than I 'knew' him in the biography. Or the various lovers, whose relationships with her always made 'sense' in the way Middlebrook depicted them.

In any case, I'm just picking on minor issues, and ones maybe only noticeable to me now because I've since worked through about a million Sexton-penned or related works, and feel I have a better sense of the 'big picture.' This is a fabulous biography. Where some figures in it seem somewhat concealed (like Kayo, like AS's parents, except in their spectral presence for Anne, like her daughter Joy), the benefit is that you truly feel you've immersed yourself in Anne; she is at the center, she is the star, she is ever-present in this biography. In that way, it seems appropriate, considering the many many accounts of her star-presence, the way she always insisted on being the shining light wherever she went--the actress-y allure that drew so many people to her. Middlebrook is always engaging, a really wonderful writer, and importantly, presents Sexton flaws-and-all. She doesn't shy away from presenting the abuses Sexton subjected her daughters too; she doesn't hide the raging addictions Sexton suffered in the latter half of her career. Though I found some of her value judgments frustrating (it seems Middlebrook thinks nothing after "Love Poems" is really worth discussion, and so the last 4-5 years of Sexton's life are given short shrift, to my mind), she does try to portray the good and the bad from a somewhat 'objective' stance--or at least from a stance that allows the reader to make their own judgments.

This is getting long. On the whole, just a wonderful biography--maybe not comprehensive (what bio could be?), but wonderfully written, sensitive, with a profound focus on the writing and a toning down of the sensationalist aspects of her life that would have been mere fodder for other biographers. Maybe no other biography I've read has given me as great a sense of the figure at the center--I feel as though, in some ways, I 'know' Anne Sexton now. There are some ethical issues surrounding this bio--Middlebrook used therapy tapes from AS and Martin Orne's work together (which the family, and many other analysts, found to be completely unethical), but I tend to agree with both DM and Orne inasmuch as I firmly believe Anne would have allowed the use of the tapes, if she thought it would help anyone. Middlebrook's biography of Plath is incredible, too--check "Her Husband" out if you get the chance. Possibly the best Plath bio out there. The Sexton one, however, comes much recommended, even if you're not all that into AS's work--it's a great read, either way.(less)

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Feb 20, 2011 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: any one who is curious to learn more about Anne Sexton.

Shelves: biography

This is a great book. It really makes me feel like I'm right there with Anne and her family. When the book describes her hard at work, writting poem after poem, it's like you are hunched over the typewriter with her. I can no longer just casually pick up this book to read on a lazy day; my head has to be in the right space, but I hope that I'll be able to do that again sometime soon. Perhaps in the summertime when the weather is fine and the sun is shinning I'll make my way back to this lovely b...more

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Feb 03, 2012 Dorothée rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, non-fiction

I really enjoyed this insightful biography of one of my favourite poets. Although I do think it could have explored her actual poems a bit more and perhaps provide a schedule of her daily life, it was filled with many interesting and important details (highlighted by the extensive bibliography & sources used). I think I read somewhere that this is one of the most accurate biographies of Anne Sexton which I guess is true because Middlebrook evidently made sure to get in touch with as many peo...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Kari rated it 5 of 5 stars

A fascinating and shocking biography of the controversial poet Anne Sexton. Struggling with complicated mental illness, Sexton began writing poems about her experiences as a form of therapy. She quickly experienced success as her poems were printed in leading publications such as The New Yorker. These poems were at times shocking, brutal and above all confessional. She became one of the leading confessional poets of the 1950s and 1960s along with the likes of Sylvia Plath and Robert Lowell. Her...more

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Jul 12, 2010 tee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-own, poets

An interesting read, to say the least. About 8 or 9 years ago, several of my friends, after reading some pieces I wrote, said that my words reminded them of Sexton. I had never heard of her but at some point bought a volume of her collected works. Flicking through it one day last year, I realised I needed to know who this woman was so that I could understand what force drove the poems. This book certainly helped me understand the force and a lot of the imagery that Sexton uses in her work.

And n...more An interesting read, to say the least. About 8 or 9 years ago, several of my friends, after reading some pieces I wrote, said that my words reminded them of Sexton. I had never heard of her but at some point bought a volume of her collected works. Flicking through it one day last year, I realised I needed to know who this woman was so that I could understand what force drove the poems. This book certainly helped me understand the force and a lot of the imagery that Sexton uses in her work.

And now I also understand what my friends saw in me, that they also saw in her. It wasn't particularly my poorly written teenage-angst prose that drew the comparison, but I think, eerily, they saw the beginnings of the same illnesses and struggles that Sexton went through, in me. It's with sadness and a little fear that I even admit this. It's a frightening thing to be reading someone's story and relating, when you know that they were known to be quite mad and troubled.

Middlebrook, the biographer, wrote a really tight biography. Sometimes I felt that she leant too heavily on the literary-criticism side of things, but I tend to be one who'd prefer to know what breakfast cereal someone ate rather than whether they thought that their poetry was any good. For a lot of the book I even felt as though Middlebrook felt a certain disdain, and even dislike of Anne - understandable in many ways - particularly once I discovered that Anne was an incest perpetrator herself - something that totally stunned and disgusted me, and has really quite changed my opinion of her.

It's apparent that she was a troubled woman, perhaps even verging on complete madness but I find it quite shocking that it seems as though everyone tolerated, and even condoned her behaviour, something that certainly probably fed the mania and encouraged it. People bowed to Sexton's every demand, whim and fancy and when things didn't go her way, she had tantrums, breakdowns or attempted suicide. Reading this, as I've written it, paints her as a vapid, immature crackpot - but when you look deeper, and there were so many layers to this woman, you see that she was an incredilby complex person - something that access to her psychiatrist's tapes show immeasurably.

It's a funny thing that even after reading this biography and feeling like I know her so much more intimately, that I also feel that Middlebrook still only scratched the surface. I think Sexton did a terribly good job of burying herself deep under all those layers, the "fugue states" must have been a necessary behaviour in order to have a rest from simply being her!

Middlebrook herself is a fabulous writer, her personal analysis and critique of Anne's poetry always succinct. I enjoyed the beginning of the book better, it was more in depth about Anne's personal and family life, than in the latter half - where it felt as though Middlebrook lacked interest in not only Anne's poetic works, but her personal life.

Other things came out of this book for me; thankfulness that I live in an era where mental issues aren't simply written off as "hysteria", that we have better support for persons with addiction but also a sadness that poetry isn't as big as it was in the 1960's and 70's, and also too - that "madness" isn't as often used as a driving force behind creativity, but rather is something to be contained, controlled and completely squashed. I say that tentatively, I know that Anne had a negative impact on many lives and that today too, many people are adversely affected by mental illness, I myself am all too well aware of this, but without that "madness" we wouldn't have had the work that sits beside me in her collected works.

I think sometimes the destructive, fuck-it-all, side of me just longs for the day when crazy folk were let free to be crazy; they accumlated in poet's hangouts, sang their beautiful words, smoked countless cigarettes, popped numerous tranquilisers and drank gallons of whiskey - lived, hard, fast and intensely. I think I would have been one of them, or at least a groupie. These days, it seems as though the most highly-praised written work comes from the educated, the sedated and the repressed. Not always, but mostly.

Anyway, it would have been a blast to have known this woman in person, albeit tiring; bucketloads of intensity, humour, charisma, drama, she lived life to the hilt - as it was said upon her death. And having read Middlebrook's analysis of her poems, and the woman behind them - I will now be able to understand her poetry infinitely more. I don't know if that's entirely a good thing, but I'm thankful someone took the time to explore this fascinating, self-absorbed, talented woman. We all know, Anne would be loving the attention.(less)

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Jul 12, 2007 Meghan rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: crazy local-poet types who don't think less of a person based on their mental illness

in a lot of ways, anne sexton reminds me of myself... if things had gone much, much worse in my earlier life... and if my issues went unchecked and untreated. she was beautiful, but lived a life full of insecurity, which is what so many of the women i know battle with daily. the so-called "confessional" aspect of her poetry was reinforced by the true-life experiences that fueked this creative, demented mind, making her poetry (which i already loved) come alive with new meaning.

this book was beau...more

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Jan 30, 2009 Telaina rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a well-written book deserving of its National Book Award Finallist status from a craft standpoint. However, I feel Middlebrook is extremely unfair to Sexton and it is an outdated look at the life of someone who cleary (EXTREMELY CLEARLY) suffered from manic depression/bipolar disorder and was completely failed by her medical and psychiatric care. Middlebrook has much more sympathy for the psychiatrist Sexton "seduced" than she does for Sexton.

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Jun 09, 2009 Kitty with Curls added it

One of my grandmother's oldest friends was Sexton's closest friend at Smith & afterward. Also knew Plath & J.C. Oates. Now she has disappeared & won't talk to anyone from the old days, especially writers.

I don't blame her at all.

Other than that, I really enjoyed the description of the end of AS's life, especially what happened to her teaching & how her students responded to her disintegration.

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May 08, 2008 Ilze rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People interested in Sexton + poets

Diane Middlebrook knows her subject well, and Linda Gray Sexton (Anne’s daughter) attests to that in her book entitled 45 Mercy Street: A Journey back to my Mother: Anne Sexton. She might’ve received a lot of flack from the media because she not only revealed the identity of dr Martin Orne, who saw Anne for years, but also the contents of some of the tapes that were used during Anne’s therapy. Middlebrook knew how to be sensitive about her subject and so doesn’t reveal “too much”. In fact, the...more

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Jan 20, 2009 Carrie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Middlebrook's biography is thorough and sympathetic at the same time it's unflinchingly honest about some of Sexton's more disturbing behavior. I love the attention she pays to the poems as well as to Sexton's voluminous correspondence. I also learned a lot about the poet's relationship with Maxine Kumin, a poet I greatly admire.

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May 15, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance-and-poetry

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Nov 03, 2012 Greta Roussos rated it 5 of 5 stars

Anne Sexton is an interesting woman and well work the hundreds of pages in this biography. In addition to telling the personal, Middlebrook educates about the evolution of confessional poetry in the 60s. Really Sexton's poetry is much more meaningful and enjoyable for me after learning her personal story.

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Jul 21, 2012 Rachel burns rated it 4 of 5 stars

The information is thoroughly covered & well executed, but it skips around a bit. I didn’t like the small blips of the authors opinion throughout the book, or her own interpretation of certain things. It was a very enjoyable read & adds depth to interpretations of previously read Sexton poetry.

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Sep 21, 2009 Suna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

It's hard to say 'liked' or 'really liked it' because Anne Sexton's life was so unutterably painful, but it is no doubt a very good insight into the woman herself. Not a happy read, but vital if you have a need to know about the mind behind the fantastic poetry that fell from her fingertips.

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Jul 28, 2010 Mia Brown rated it 5 of 5 stars

Although I may be a LITTLE biased as Sexton is by far my favorite poet, this is one of the best bios I've ever read. Middlebrook has done extensive research on Sexton and Sexton's life and the result is a comprehensive,though not always flattering, picture of the tortured poet.

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Jun 18, 2012 stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, biography

so good. very balanced and nuanced portrait of anne sexton, who is a bit of a conudrum herself. unflinchingly honest and excellent writing. she is my favorite confessional poet, and this is one of my favorite biographies in general.

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Feb 27, 2013 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, boston-area

More than just what it was like to be Anne Sexton, Diane Wood Middlebrook gives a really accurate idea of what it would have been like to LIVE with Anne Sexton, to be part of her life. It would have been exhausting. Because of that, the book is, at times, exhausting. Sometimes I just felt exhausted to the point of being done with her, like "go ahead and get to the part where you kill yourself already." I don't recommend this book if you don't want to dig deep into Sexton's life or if you don't w...more

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Sep 07, 2011 Persephone Abbott rated it 4 of 5 stars

The only reason I would not give this five stars is because of the subject of Anne Sexton herself. While I like some of her work, the majority of her poems are not very attractive to me, this is totally subjective of course as is my rating. The missing star is due to the fact that not having had much insight in Sexton's work or life previously to reading this bio, I wonder what aspects I would have liked to hear more about or perhaps less about. Nonetheless I thought this book covered just about...more

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Mar 11, 2009 Roger-Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed probably one of the most personal/well researched accounts of Anne Sexton's life. She has always been really fascinating to me and I am just really glad that this book is available.

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Sep 20, 2008 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars

To be honest, I never finished this book. I got about 2/3 of the way through, and then it just became quite dry, in my opinion.

Having been a fan of her poetry, I found it incredibly interesting to read about what prompted her to start writing poetry, and her lifestyle- it gave you a nice 'behind the scenes' look at everything. However, that thrill soon died off, and I found myself bored with the book.

A decent read for the first half, and maybe I shall pick it up again and finish the rest, but th...more

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May 06, 2013 Dr.excelsior rated it 5 of 5 stars

An excellent, well illustrated and intriguing biography of Sexton with fascinating access to her therapists notes - perhaps a little more focus on the poetry would have been useful.

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May 11, 2009 Charlane Brady rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Middlebrook provided much insight into the life of a woman plagued with mental disorders and an uncanny ability to write poetry about her life. She also provided insight about writing and reading poetry.

Sexton was a mad housewife and began writing to live. She did unforgivable things yet was a disciplined, intelligent, beautiful artist capable of as much love as she was destructive behaviors.

Anne Sexton is the poet of all poets. She paved the way for confessional poetry and is the reason I sta...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Kathryn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Fascinating read. Was both incredibly unsettling and very inspiring. Made me want to read her poetry, but also a little afraid of her. Although I see why she needed them to craft the psychological portrait she was aiming for, I'm not sure how I feel ethically about the author's use of Sexton's therapy transcripts.

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Feb 11, 2011 Mary McCoy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Probably my favorite literary biography. A seamless combination of biographical detail and analysis of the writer's work that doesn't make the mistake of conflating the two.

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Mar 04, 2012 Sandra rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fascinating read. I have collections of poetry by Anne Sexton and found it interesting to piece the poems with her biography. Not a short read. Worth it.

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Oct 29, 2010 Valissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

"I am torn in two, but I will conquer myself. I will take scissors and cut out the beggar. I will take a crowbar and pry out the broken pieces of God in me."

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May 07, 2008 Saul rated it 4 of 5 stars

A beautifully written book that shows so much understanding for all of the people involved in Sexton's life and, of course, for Sexton herself and her work. As a friend recently reminded me, the book is also ethically murky, as it was written in close collaboration with Anne's therapist Dr. Orne, breaking the patient/therapist code of conduct. Still, I am riveted by the complete portrait of an intriguing writer with a difficult personality and life. As Denise Levertov wrote after Anne Sexton's s...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Anna Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars

I bought this book thinking it was her poetry (not seeing the "biography label clearly marked) but found it an intense read nonetheless

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Jun 02, 2009 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Any fans of the confessional poetry movemnt

Incredibly well written. I really enjoyed the way the Diane Middlebrook incorporated lines from Anne's poetry into her own opinions.

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Apr 19, 2009 Jamie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Not that I didn't know she had issues but as I have read bios of Plath and Sexton, both were incredibly driven and somewhat ego-centric...so I am wondering if it is necessary to have the egoism to be a great writer as well. Kind of disjointed writing towards the end, almost like the author had to end the book and just cut to the chase of Sexton's suicide.

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About Diane Wood Middlebrook

Middlebrook, who taught at Stanford for 35 years, was perhaps best known for Anne Sexton: A Biography. Its intense scrutiny of the poet's life made it "one of the turning points of late 20th-century biography," according to the newspaper. Middlebrook published several other well-received biographies and works of criticism, and was known for funding various arts organizations and literary salons fo...more

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“If suffering like hers had any use, she reasoned, it was not to the sufferer. The only way that an individual's pain gained meaning was through its communication to others.” — 12 people liked it

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