Exemplary literary scholarship.
An authoritative life of a towering poet.
After completing a two-volume biography (Young Eliot, 2015), Crawford continues his meticulous, perceptive examination of the life and work of T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) beginning with the 1922 publication of The Waste Land. Drawing on voluminous letters and archival sources, he constructs a finely detailed chronicle of the poet’s last four decades, focusing on how Eliot’s work—poetry, plays, essays—arose from his “sometimes tormented life.” Much of that torment was caused by his marriage to the volatile Vivien Haigh-Wood, whose physical and mental deterioration—recounted in sometimes tedious detail—vexed both of them. Although overwhelmed with Vivien’s problems, Eliot found sustenance in his relationship with Emily Hale, whom he had met in 1912 and professed to be in love with. Their correspondence, made public in 2020, reveals an intimate friendship. Hale was Eliot’s confidante, and she longed to marry him if only he would divorce Vivien. For Eliot, though, a convert to the Anglican Church, divorce was forbidden. When Vivien died in 1947, Emily’s hope revived, but “it was as if Vivien’s death pointed him all the more definitely towards renunciation.” Suddenly, he realized that “his love for Emily now was so different from what he had felt in his youth.” Marriage, he explained to her, was impossible. Crawford examines Eliot’s “bleak private life,” which became exacerbated by the deaths of family and friends—and even by winning the Nobel Prize, which he feared would quash his creativity. “The Nobel is a ticket to one’s funeral,” he complained. Despite travels, teaching, honors, and lectures; despite his work as an editor at Faber & Faber; despite an active social life, Eliot appeared deeply solitary and withdrawn. “In public,” Crawford writes, “his carapace remained impermeable.” Marriage to his young secretary Valerie Fletcher, in 1957, which surprised everyone who knew him, seemed to rejuvenate him. Eight years later, he was dead.
Exemplary literary scholarship.Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-374-27946-2
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.
A carefully curated personal portrait.
First ladies’ roles have evolved significantly in recent decades. Their memoirs typically reflect a spectrum of ambition and interests, offering insights into their values and personal lives. Melania Trump, however, stands out as exceptionally private and elusive. Her ultra-lean account attempts to shed light on her public duties, initiatives, and causes as first lady, and it defends certain actions like her controversial “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket. The statement was directed at the media, not the border situation, she claims. Yet the book provides scant detail about her personal orbit or day-to-day interactions. The memoir opens with her well-known Slovenian origin story, successful modeling career, and whirlwind romance with Donald Trump, culminating in their 2005 marriage, followed by a snapshot of Election Day 2016: “Each time we were together that day, I was impressed by his calm.…This man is remarkably confident under pressure.” Once in the White House, Melania Trump describes her functions and numerous public events at home and abroad, which she asserts were more accomplished than media representations suggested. However, she rarely shares any personal interactions beyond close family ties, notably her affection for her son, Barron, and her sister, Ines. And of course she lavishes praise on her husband. Minimal anecdotes about White House or cabinet staff are included, and she carefully defuses her rumored tensions with Trump’s adult children, blandly stating, “While we may share the same last name, each of us is distinct with our own aspirations and paths to follow.” Although Melania’s desire to support causes related to children’s and women’s welfare feels authentic, the overall tenor of her memoir seems aimed at painting a glimmering portrait of her husband and her role, likely with an eye toward the forthcoming election.
A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781510782693
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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