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Malcolm Cowley: The Formative Years
The first volume in a two-volume biography of the great man of letters explores Cowley's early years, his childhood and adolescence in western Pennsylvania, his service in World War I, and his years at Harvard.
- GenresNonfiction
626 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 20, 2013
Amazingly detailed bio of Cowley, his life—including his inner life—and his development as a poet and man of letters to age thirty-two. Derived from his voluminous correspondence with his literary contemporaries, his private notebooks, his published and unpublished writings, poems, and book reviews. And from interviews with the Cowleys at their Connecticut home.
There is talk about aesthetics, poetics, the mechanics of poetry: rhyming schemes, free verse/modernism versus classicism, etc. They are relevant because they were important to Cowley, but can be dead wood to readers who are not interested in them. And there is literary criticism. Lots of good insights into other, mostly American, authors. Because Cowley believed that literature was a collaborative effort, to be viewed within the context of contemporary literary trends.
My main complaint is the size of the type—too small for reading comfort. I had to use a magnifying glass. This is too big a book to read under such conditions, so I will never finish it. I’d like to see a condensed version in larger, more readable, type, with some illustrations. This version has only one illustration. But it will tell you everything you might want to know about Cowley’s formative years.
There is talk about aesthetics, poetics, the mechanics of poetry: rhyming schemes, free verse/modernism versus classicism, etc. They are relevant because they were important to Cowley, but can be dead wood to readers who are not interested in them. And there is literary criticism. Lots of good insights into other, mostly American, authors. Because Cowley believed that literature was a collaborative effort, to be viewed within the context of contemporary literary trends.
My main complaint is the size of the type—too small for reading comfort. I had to use a magnifying glass. This is too big a book to read under such conditions, so I will never finish it. I’d like to see a condensed version in larger, more readable, type, with some illustrations. This version has only one illustration. But it will tell you everything you might want to know about Cowley’s formative years.
Displaying 1 of 1 review