The authorized and sweeping biography of one of America's most complex, influential, and enduring poets.
Jonathan Blunk is a poet, critic, essayist, and radio producer. His work has appeared in The Nation, Poets & Writers, The Georgia Review, and elsewhere. He was a co-editor of A Wild Perfection, the selected letters of James Wright.
[An] engrossing biography . . . Wright comes through vividly on
almost every page. Blunk began working on the book in 2002, and
it's clearly the better for that long gestation . . . Blunk makes
judicious use of Wright's papers, including important letters that
only recently came to light . . . It's in the extensive endnotes
that Blunk really shines, illuminating his sources and his
resourcefulness . . . Literary biography at its fine-grained
finest.
--Eric McHenry, The New York Times Book Review
Jonathan Blunk, the authorized biographer, shows considerable
empathy for his subject, and his sensitivity to the poetry shines
through this long and detailed work . . . Blunk concentrates on
Wright's intense devotion to poetry, and he fleshes out the genesis
and development of various poems and collections . . . All the
while the poet's great intelligence, volubility, generosity and
humor are on display . .. --Mark Gustafson, Minneapolis Star
Tribune [A] fluent biography . . . Adopting a clear, novelistic
style, Mr. Blunk's narrative is both cogent and thoroughly informed
. . . With his lucid portrait of Wright, Mr. Blunk has performed a
major service. Wright holds an honored place in
mid-twentieth-century poetry. His best poems--marked by 'the pure
clear word' and an ability to convey gut-punching emotion--are now
fortunately lodged (in Robert Frost's phrase) where they will be
hard to get rid of. --David Yezzi, The Wall Street Journal
Luminous . . . Though Blunk's writing is accurate, dutiful, and
exhaustive (as biographies should be), it is also vividly alive: a
reader feels on every page as if he or she is in the presence of
Wright. The narrative distance is gauged perfectly, providing an
objectivity infused with awareness of the deep humanity and
importance of this
poet. --Fred Dings, World Literature Today [A] seamless fine-fabric
of a biography that, while limning its subject with great
compassion, arouses a powerful appetite for Wright's writing.
--Booklist, starred review Offering an unabashed appreciation of
Wright's poetry but also an evenhanded assessment of the poet's
tortured life, Blunk's impressive study is as compelling as
Wright's own story.
--Robert Weibezahl, BookPage
"Even though they never met, in Blunk, poet and co-editor of
Wright's Selected Letters, James Wright has found his Boswell . . .
Blunk meticulously explores Wright's years of teaching, his painful
bouts of depression, his recurring alcoholism, and how his poems
were crafted . . . Quoting generously from Wright's poems
throughout, Blunk carefully chronicles the ongoing development of
his style . . . A much-needed, engaging, and discerning biography
that should help Wright find a new generation of readers."
--Kirkus Reviews "Admirable . . . Blunk gives discerning attention
to Wright's work, following individual poems from draft form to
critical reception, as he traces Wright's larger artistic
trajectory . . . Unarguably the definitive work on Wright."
--Publishers Weekly "'I am . . . homesick for my own heart, ' James
Wright once wrote, and Jonathan Blunk has managed to track the
remarkable journey by which, in his maturity, the poet found that
heart. Along the way we are given a richly documented account of
the ground from which arose some of the twentieth century's finest
lyrics poems. Blunk's indispensable contribution deepens our
understanding not just of James Wright but of America's literary
community during the latter half of that century." --Lewis Hyde
"Jonathan Blunk's biography of James Wright is as good as it gets.
I praise him endlessly for his visionary work, for his accuracy,
and his knowledge." --Gerald Stern "How did James Wright become one
of the great poets of his time, a deep seeker of what he called
'the pure clear word'? Jonathan Blunk's definitive, perceptive, and
compassionate biography tells the full story of a representative
and necessary American maker. It is a sustaining achievement."
--Edward Hirsch
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