Nominated for the National Book Award, this exemplary biography of the talented but harrowed Sexton provoked controversy for its revelations of infidelity and incest and its use of tape from Sexton's psychiatric session. It reconciles the many Anne Sextons: the 1950s housewife; the abused child who became an abusive mother; the seductress; the suicide who carried "kill-me" pills in her handbag the way other women carry lipstick; and the poet who transmuted confession into lasting art.
"Judicious and canny. [Middlebrook] appreciates both Sexton's gifts as a poet and her attractive sides as a human being...but looks at her destructive weaknesses with a steady eye." --Time
"A wonderful book, just, balanced, insightful, complex in its sympathies and in its judgment of Sexton both as a person and as a writer...a deeply moving account." --New York Times Book Review
Diane Middlebrook was an American biographer, poet, and teacher. She taught feminist studies for many years at Stanford University. Middlebrook is best known for her acclaimed biographies of Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, and Billy Tipton. She passed away in 2007.
View titles by Diane Middlebrook
Nominated for the National Book Award, this exemplary biography of the talented but harrowed Sexton provoked controversy for its revelations of infidelity and incest and its use of tape from Sexton's psychiatric session. It reconciles the many Anne Sextons: the 1950s housewife; the abused child who became an abusive mother; the seductress; the suicide who carried "kill-me" pills in her handbag the way other women carry lipstick; and the poet who transmuted confession into lasting art.
"Judicious and canny. [Middlebrook] appreciates both Sexton's gifts as a poet and her attractive sides as a human being...but looks at her destructive weaknesses with a steady eye." --Time
"A wonderful book, just, balanced, insightful, complex in its sympathies and in its judgment of Sexton both as a person and as a writer...a deeply moving account." --New York Times Book Review
Author
Diane Middlebrook was an American biographer, poet, and teacher. She taught feminist studies for many years at Stanford University. Middlebrook is best known for her acclaimed biographies of Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, and Billy Tipton. She passed away in 2007.
View titles by Diane Middlebrook
