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Joan Richardson

Wallace Stevens: The Early Years, 1879-1923 Hardcover – August 1, 1986

by Joan Richardson (Author)

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Uses Stevens' journals and letters, and the reminiscences of friends, family members and colleagues to recount the second half of the American poet's life

Language

English
Publisher

Beech Tree Books
Publication date

August 1, 1986
ISBN-10

0688054013
ISBN-13

978-0141340821
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Joan Richardson
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Joan Richardson
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Eleanor Cook
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Helen Hennessy Vendler
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Joan Richardson
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Joan Richardson
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stevens claimed that he never read other poets, yet, as this massive biography reveals, he held imaginary dialogues with his favorite "man-poets," Hardy and Plato among them. A successful insurance executive and man of letters, he had a precarious sense of self and attempted in his verse to define an ideal self abstracted from his humdrum, bourgeois world. Combining psychobiography and criticism, this first half of a two-volume work argues that Stevens made his wife into a mother figure because he was unable to integrate the feminine into his psyche. The poet comes across as demanding, priggish, miserly, aloof, but the real subject here is the process of his mind, how his arresting images crystallized, and how they amplified or concealed his inner self. Richardson's dense, wordy study rewards the patient reader. No other book gets into the workings of Stevens's imagination so deeply. The author, a professor at City University of New York, has uncovered fascinating material on Stevens's meeting with Dada artist Duchamp and his borrowings from commedia dell'arte. (September
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The time has long been ripe for a complete biography of Stevens. The author of this attempt says that the poet "took on for me the roles of father, teacher, lover. . . . I have questioned whether I could or can properly call my consciousness my own." She goes on to hypothesize at great length minute, indeed ineffable, details of Stevens's mental life, while failing to put in order basic facts about her subject. Her discussion of the poetry, marred by digressions into history, religion, and art criticism as well as by turgid prose, relies heavily on non sequitur and flat assertion. The most suggestive and cogent exploration of connections among Stevens's life, thought, and poetry remains Milton Bates's Wallace Stevens ( LJ 8/85); a suitable biography remains to be written.Frank J. Lepkowski, Oakland Univ. Lib., Rochester, Mich.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Beech Tree Books; 1st edition (August 1, 1986)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0688054013
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141340821
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.85 pounds

Best Sellers Rank: #2,319,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #231,984 in Biographies

Customer Reviews:
6 ratings

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Elaine

I'll let you know more, once I've cracked it

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2016

Verified Purchase

I read about this particular biography in Harper's Magazine and ordered it because the Harper's reviewer harshly dismissed it for its supposedly unjustified psychoanalytic interpretations, recommending, instead a more recent bio, The Whole Harmonium. Both are heavy tomes, and I'll need a while to really put a sent in them. But I also wanted the Richardson, The Later Years, which is more expensive. Haven't gotten that one, yet.

One person found this helpful

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Craig Salvay

The details of Wallace Stevens' early life

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2013

Verified Purchase

Detailed account of the life of a poet who practiced law.
The author's writer is academic rather than conversational; still, there is no substitute for the contextual communication of facts that results from well-organized research-writing.

2 people found this helpful

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Richard steingesser

Not so great.

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2015

Verified Purchase

I'll go back to this but find it dull going, maybe Steven's life is just dull. And the literary criticism is okay but would like more depth here as well.

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Frank Troy

A readable, definitive biography of Stevens

Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2018

As many have pointed out, this is now and probably will continue to be the definitive biography of Wallace Stevens. The two-volume set is a beautifully written, thorough, detailed account of Stevens’ life and the cultural and personal influences that shaped his thinking. Simultaneously, it is an in-depth examination and illumination of his poetry and prose, both published and unpublished. The author, Joan Richardson, made good use of primary sources (aided by Stevens’ daughter Holly and numerous university libraries) as well as virtually all secondary print sources available at the time she wrote. The two volumes are a lot to read and some might see them as overly detailed in places; however, casual readers may skim or skip over passages of lesser interest to them, whereas Stevens scholars might find these same passages indispensable. Each volume has a detailed Index and helpful Notes for those who wish to pursue specific topics. These academic issues aside, I was deeply moved by reading these volumes in part because Stevens’ struggle with religion, faith, and philosophical ideas was strikingly parallel to the same issues in my own life. (I suspect this would be true of many thoughtful people who came of age in the 20th Century.) I was also moved by the sense I had of knowing another person in such great psychological depth, including his weaknesses and strengths, failures and successes, sorrows and joys. Stevens was a complex man, successful as a businessman, lawyer, and highly original poet. These volumes supply a full, sensitive, and deeply insightful exegesis of him and his many achievements.

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2020

Before buying this book, read Helen Vendler's devastating 1986 review of it in The New York Review of Books.

One person found this helpful

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