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The life of John Berryman
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 21, 2025
B+/A-
This book does a very good job of delving into Berryman’s life while remaining at least somewhat objective and critical. There was obviously a lot of research involved: Haffenden seems to have tracked down nearly everyone who spent time with Berryman and either gotten their impressions personally or read their written statements. There are excerpts from Berryman’s unpublished journals and manuscripts, even some Dream Songs (!).
I do have some criticisms: some things are completely skated over, like Berryman getting arrested while a professor at Iowa, as well as the reasons behind his two divorces. There is also an excessive amount of detail at times; I found myself somewhat confused when I read much shorter biographies of Berryman, because stuff that should have been expounded upon (book sale numbers, awards, critical reception of his work) really isn’t explored as much as it should be.
Berryman obviously struggled with a few different mental illnesses during his lifetime, but only his alcoholism is ever named… like, the man was definitely clinically depressed and probably had problems with anxiety, too, and he was also pretty clearly bipolar II, but Haffenden doesn’t explore that aspect of BM’s persona at all.
I also wish the section on BM’s childhood was longer, and that the details and immediate repercussions of his father’s suicide were explored more. Speaking of, Haffenden mentions some irregularities with the details of BM’s father’s death, irregularities that seem to point to homicide rather than suicide.
Also, BM’s mom is a humongous figure early in the book, but by the time BM turns like 22-23 she mostly disappears, which I found a bit odd. I mean, I get it, it’s a biography of the famous poet and not his mother, but there’s too much info about her early on for her to just mostly disappear.
All of that being said, this book is pretty well-balanced. Haffenden was obviously a fan of BM but he isn’t scared to depict BM in a negative light. I found his portrayal of BM to be fair.
BM does come across as rather cartoonish at times. Also, times have changed so damn much since the events described in this book… I got culture shock more than once due to that fact.
This book does a very good job of delving into Berryman’s life while remaining at least somewhat objective and critical. There was obviously a lot of research involved: Haffenden seems to have tracked down nearly everyone who spent time with Berryman and either gotten their impressions personally or read their written statements. There are excerpts from Berryman’s unpublished journals and manuscripts, even some Dream Songs (!).
I do have some criticisms: some things are completely skated over, like Berryman getting arrested while a professor at Iowa, as well as the reasons behind his two divorces. There is also an excessive amount of detail at times; I found myself somewhat confused when I read much shorter biographies of Berryman, because stuff that should have been expounded upon (book sale numbers, awards, critical reception of his work) really isn’t explored as much as it should be.
Berryman obviously struggled with a few different mental illnesses during his lifetime, but only his alcoholism is ever named… like, the man was definitely clinically depressed and probably had problems with anxiety, too, and he was also pretty clearly bipolar II, but Haffenden doesn’t explore that aspect of BM’s persona at all.
I also wish the section on BM’s childhood was longer, and that the details and immediate repercussions of his father’s suicide were explored more. Speaking of, Haffenden mentions some irregularities with the details of BM’s father’s death, irregularities that seem to point to homicide rather than suicide.
Also, BM’s mom is a humongous figure early in the book, but by the time BM turns like 22-23 she mostly disappears, which I found a bit odd. I mean, I get it, it’s a biography of the famous poet and not his mother, but there’s too much info about her early on for her to just mostly disappear.
All of that being said, this book is pretty well-balanced. Haffenden was obviously a fan of BM but he isn’t scared to depict BM in a negative light. I found his portrayal of BM to be fair.
BM does come across as rather cartoonish at times. Also, times have changed so damn much since the events described in this book… I got culture shock more than once due to that fact.
Displaying 1 of 1 review