Review by Choice Review
An unabashed feminist and sexual adventurer, the embodiment of the new woman of the Jazz Age, and, most important, a gifted poet, Millay (1892-1950) enjoyed the plaudits of general readers and literary critics during the 1920s and early 1930s. By the 1940s, her reputation had declined, attributable partly to her strident political activism and partly to her adherence to a literary style no longer in fashion. Since her death in 1950, Millay's star has been barely visible in the constellation of American poets. Nevertheless, scholars continue to publish on her, and she has been the subject of numerous important papers, a fine critical study, several volumes of essays, and two authorized biographies. In recent years, her poems have been republished, including in anthologies by Colin Falck (1991), Holly Peppe (1998), and J. D. McClatchy (2003). Jackson's collection differs markedly from those assembled by Falck, Peppe, and McClatchy, mainly in its emphasis on the poet's later, less-known writings, e.g., all 17 "Sonnets from an Ungrafted Tree"; excerpts from Huntsman, What Quarry? (1939) and Mine the Harvest (1954); and previously unpublished poetry and prose. The present volume is also distinguished by its use of first-edition versions of poems, its scrupulous annotations, and a superb introduction by Peppe. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. --Donald D. Kummings, University of Wisconsin--Parkside
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
