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Dylan Thomas in America: An Intimate Journal
When the celebrated Welsh poet Dylan Thomas arrived in New York on his first visit in 1950, for a tour of poetry readings around the country, America didn’t know what had hit it. Angelic, devilish, immoral, charming, self-destructive, given to alcoholic binges, he was not what the sober world of American academe had expected. Students loved him—although after his first few encounters with them, the girls had to be protected. And he made quick friends with countless American writers, journalists, and barflies, instantly creating a pop-culture mythology of the doomed artist for the late 20th century. The man who was Thomas’ patron and guide was the young poet John Malcolm Brinnin, who watched horrified—though utterly beguiled by the poet’s charm and genius—at Thomas’ slow descent into hell. This is his harrowing account of the poet’s tragic last years.
313 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
About the author
John Malcolm Brinnin
51 books3 followersWhen still a boy, Brinnin's parents moved to Detroit, Michigan. Brinnin went to the University of Michigan for his undergraduate studies where he won three Hopwood Awards in 1938, 1939 and 1940. He worked his way through school in an Ann Arbor book store. During part of this time (1936–1938), Brinnin served as the editor of the journal Signatures. Graduating from Michigan in 1942, Brinnin went to Harvard University for graduate work.
From 1949 to 1956 Brinnin was Director of the Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association Poetry Center, popularly known today as the 92nd Street Y. While there he raised the center to national attention as a focal point for poetry in the United States. He was, for example, the first person to bring Dylan Thomas to the United States and his 1955 book Dylan Thomas in America describes much of his attempt to befriend and help the troubled Welsh poet.
In addition to his work on Thomas, Brinnin published six volumes of his own poetry. Brinnin also wrote scholarly works on T. S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, Truman Capote, and William Carlos Williams; and published three personal travelogues.
Brinnin taught in a number of universities over his career. At various times, he gave courses at Vassar College, Boston University, the University of Connecticut, and Harvard University.
Brinnin died in Key West, Florida on June 25, 1998. His papers were left to the University of Delaware.
From 1949 to 1956 Brinnin was Director of the Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association Poetry Center, popularly known today as the 92nd Street Y. While there he raised the center to national attention as a focal point for poetry in the United States. He was, for example, the first person to bring Dylan Thomas to the United States and his 1955 book Dylan Thomas in America describes much of his attempt to befriend and help the troubled Welsh poet.
In addition to his work on Thomas, Brinnin published six volumes of his own poetry. Brinnin also wrote scholarly works on T. S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, Truman Capote, and William Carlos Williams; and published three personal travelogues.
Brinnin taught in a number of universities over his career. At various times, he gave courses at Vassar College, Boston University, the University of Connecticut, and Harvard University.
Brinnin died in Key West, Florida on June 25, 1998. His papers were left to the University of Delaware.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 6, 2012
Oh my God that motherfucker could drink.
March 26, 2018
A short, brutal account of the fond and terribly strained relationship between John Brinnin and Dylan Thomas. It is a book that paints Thomas in a largely negative light through inferred information about extreme anxiety, excessive alcohol consumption and an almost reckless disregard for self preservation, the book explores him through the eyes of a friend, whether right or wrong. It provides a deep insight into the slowly self-destructing poet, where most public knowledge has become inflated and mythologised, and the information which explores the last 4 years of his life, includes tid-bits of information such as the naming of under milk wood, from its original title of Llareggub (can be read backwards). The book may over-analyse the eccentricities and actions that he personally encountered and has been criticised by many as oddly one-sided, with the addition of a foreword by Caitlin Thomas, who felt the work misrepresented her husband. Yet the work is endearing, it is warm and rounded and effortlessly charming. It's description of Thomas very well may be reflected in reality, as a Welshman, lost in anxiety, bouncing between London, America and Laugharne, a small town mentality fighting against the revelations of a larger brighter world. At times it can seem absurd, the justification and rationale for his alcoholism as being a way to conquer his anxiety and to relish life, seems to be an over-analysis of a notoriously distressed and depressed man. While reading this book, I wanted to see 'that first image that set fire to the stars', yet what you find is a world rushing by besides you, in trapped isolated carriage watching the stars fall to earth. With a bitter twisting shout, the lead up to the death is as feeble as it is pathetic and horrific. Dylan wrote his most famous poem for his dying father,
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Rage, rage, against the dying of light....
and with upsetting irony reflecting the damaged and destructive force that he became, Dylan passes feebly, ensnaring his friends and family, too soon. With that inane welsh spirit of poetry and lust for life, he passed like every Welshman before him, with fright and feeling, and it is reflected in every word on every page, that he was a man more able than any to describe and reflect on the world around him, yet being unbearably constrained to be Welsh, which is as much a pleasure and a joy as it is a shackle and a curse.
Wales: The land of my fathers. My fathers can have it!
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Rage, rage, against the dying of light....
and with upsetting irony reflecting the damaged and destructive force that he became, Dylan passes feebly, ensnaring his friends and family, too soon. With that inane welsh spirit of poetry and lust for life, he passed like every Welshman before him, with fright and feeling, and it is reflected in every word on every page, that he was a man more able than any to describe and reflect on the world around him, yet being unbearably constrained to be Welsh, which is as much a pleasure and a joy as it is a shackle and a curse.
Wales: The land of my fathers. My fathers can have it!
February 6, 2019
I picked this book up ages ago at used book sale on a city street. Since that day, this has remained one of my very favorite books, and I can't even really say why.
I have a fondness for this book that is almost inexplicable to me, considering that not so much happens and it's written in a fairly prosaic style (there's a reason that John Malcolm Brinnin is hardly a household name, though his storytelling is most definitely serviceable). I quite like Dylan Thomas as a poet, but he's very much the sensitive, tortured, inebriated, and ultimately doomed artist stereotype—and these don't tend to be, in reality, the most riveting of subjects. Just how these elements coalesce into what is perhaps the most engrossing book I've ever picked up (and finished...then picked up again...and then picked up yet again...and then found in PDF format for free on the internet after losing that first copy from the used book sale...) remains a real head-scratcher.
There is just something cozily magical about this book to me, which is why, to anyone who actually reads this little blurb (unlikely), I'll issue this caveat: although I felt strongly enough about this little book to compose this and send it out into the world, your results may vary.
I have a fondness for this book that is almost inexplicable to me, considering that not so much happens and it's written in a fairly prosaic style (there's a reason that John Malcolm Brinnin is hardly a household name, though his storytelling is most definitely serviceable). I quite like Dylan Thomas as a poet, but he's very much the sensitive, tortured, inebriated, and ultimately doomed artist stereotype—and these don't tend to be, in reality, the most riveting of subjects. Just how these elements coalesce into what is perhaps the most engrossing book I've ever picked up (and finished...then picked up again...and then picked up yet again...and then found in PDF format for free on the internet after losing that first copy from the used book sale...) remains a real head-scratcher.
There is just something cozily magical about this book to me, which is why, to anyone who actually reads this little blurb (unlikely), I'll issue this caveat: although I felt strongly enough about this little book to compose this and send it out into the world, your results may vary.
May 28, 2019
.Just reading the accounts of Dylan’s bar-hopping exhausts me. For a man suffering from extreme alcoholism, a presumed ulcer and what sounds like manic depression, Dylan had enormous powers of recovery which eventually succumbed to the repeated insults to his body. He was acclaimed by American “ardents” many of them destructive in their mutual partying, but uplifting to Dylan who thrived on admiration as he was afflicted with self-doubt. In his late thirties during the time this book treats, he was fearful of losing his poetic genius and felt his best poems were perhaps behind him. Nonetheless, he took advantage of his language skills, writing prose and delving into dramatic writing with Under Milk Wood and other projects. Brinnin reveals that Dylan wrote his best work sober in his tiny studio overlooking an estuary in his native Wales. Dylan’s neglect of practical matters, particularly his finances led to a need to perpetually cadge from friends or strangers. When he had money he was spendthrift buying drinks for all his followers. His ability to drink vast amounts was legendary, but led finally to gastritis with fits of vomiting, retching and collapse. Yet, despite his physical ailments (he virtually lived on alcohol, rarely having an actual meal) he traveled coast to coast giving hundreds of performances almost always followed by all-night parties. His amorous activites were famous as well which caused turmoil between him and his beautiful wife Caitlin. Their fights were also legendary, yet Caitlin was the true love of Dylan’s life, challenged only by his affair with a professor Sarah and a latter-day friend Liz who devoted herself to his care. Dylan at the age of 39 finally succeeded in drinking himself to death, falling into an alcoholic coma from which, despite the valiant efforts of his doctors, he could not be aroused. Those close to Dylan were both charmed and disgusted by his behavior, but mainly understood the source of his torments. Those who knew him only slightly—especially ones who invited him to be a house guest during his tours—tended to shy away after witnessing one of his episodes. Brinnin who devoted years to promoting Dylan in America, having arranged his first tour, and then found he had to be both financial manager, baby sitter, confidante, and helpmate was often drained by the need to rescue Dylan which he did over and over.
May 28, 2025
[The Harborough Publishing Co Ltd] (April 1956). SB. Reprint. 219 Pages. Purchased from Zardoz Books.
Brinnin was preoccupied with serving up cheap sensation. With libel indictment vulnerability in mind, one imagines, this quasi-hatchet-job was rattled out in the aftermath of its subject’s tragic demise. The vile Caitlin Thomas’ prefatory note laments the degree of mercenary skew.
There are bright points. Character insights. Quotations. Correspondence. Background to the origins of “Under Milk Wood” (1954) and “Fern Hill” (1945). The latter was redrafted in excess of 200 times - “…separate and distinct versions…” (p. 95.)
Brinnin was preoccupied with serving up cheap sensation. With libel indictment vulnerability in mind, one imagines, this quasi-hatchet-job was rattled out in the aftermath of its subject’s tragic demise. The vile Caitlin Thomas’ prefatory note laments the degree of mercenary skew.
There are bright points. Character insights. Quotations. Correspondence. Background to the origins of “Under Milk Wood” (1954) and “Fern Hill” (1945). The latter was redrafted in excess of 200 times - “…separate and distinct versions…” (p. 95.)
April 18, 2018
Every time I read something about Dylan Thomas I get angry that the only reason he managed to be as successful and well-known as he was is because their were people around him who cared about him more than he did himself. He was a talented writer and cared deeply about his craft but, while he was generous and giving, he was also selfish and self-absorbed. I'd rather we had less poetry and more Dylan, to be honest. Moving, touching and incredibly frustrating, this is a deeply sad portrait.
November 3, 2023
Pains me to read of how sad he was for so long but such an incredible read for anyone who loves Dylan’s work as much as I do
December 21, 2024
God, he was a bit of a prick wasn’t he.
October 14, 2016
A harrowing read simply because of the inevitability of the conclusion.
We follow Dylan's last foray into the American literary world as he wrecks everything he has worked for with his appalling behaviour and drunkenness. And yet he remains a fascinating character throughout. His friends are helpless. Dylan simply cannot be saved...
The description of his death is at once both matter-of-fact and tragic. I felt every moment of Dylan's passing intensely.
An extraordinary insight into the life and death of a rare genius.
We follow Dylan's last foray into the American literary world as he wrecks everything he has worked for with his appalling behaviour and drunkenness. And yet he remains a fascinating character throughout. His friends are helpless. Dylan simply cannot be saved...
The description of his death is at once both matter-of-fact and tragic. I felt every moment of Dylan's passing intensely.
An extraordinary insight into the life and death of a rare genius.
August 28, 2008
i love reading about writers. john did a bit too much analyzing of dylan s motives but overall i enjoyed the book and felt i knew dylan after reading it. it s hard too believe that so many american writers drank so much like faulkner whose bio i read and cheever whose bio by his daughter i also read.
September 24, 2010
One of my favorite books of all time. An incredibly interesting and intimate portrait of an artist who lived like a rock star. Thomas is not even my favorite poet, but this book gets top billing on my shelves.
Want to Read
February 8, 200995 cents. looks good. I put a new plastic cover on it so I can read it without it falling apart.
March 21, 2010
have the 5th printing of this book
April 10, 2012
Exactly what I thought he'd be like. Endearing, frustrating. It's a marvel how some create such beauty.
August 8, 2012
Fantastic portrait of the very troubled and brilliant poet; the descriptions of his health and state of mind's descent are heartbreaking. This is an essential biographical work.
November 2, 2011
Part of my "Books Read" list I found while moving/unpacking.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews