A whole world: letters from James Merrill
Author:
Publisher:
Alfred A. Knopf
Publication Date:
2021
Edition:
First edition
Language:
English
Description
"The selected correspondence of a literary master and one of the twentieth century's last great letter writers. "I don't keep a journal, not after the first week," James Merrill (1926-1995) asserted in a letter to a friend. "Letters have got to bear all the burden." A vivacious correspondent--writing eagerly and often to family and lifelong friends, American and Greek lovers, confidants in literature and art--Merrill pondered aesthetics, opera and painting, housekeeping and cooking, the comedy of social life, the mysteries of the Ouija board and the spirit world, his travels around the globe, and psychological and moral dilemmas in funny, dashing, unrevised missives, composed to entertain himself as well as his correspondents. On a personal nemesis: "the ambivalence I live with. It worries me less and less. It becomes the very stuff of my art;" on a lunch for Wallace Stevens given by Mrs. Knopf: "It had been decided by one and all that nothing but small talk would be allowed"; on romance in his late fifties: "I must stop acting like an orphan gobbling cookies in fear of the plate's being taken away"; on great books: "they burn us like radium, with their decisiveness, their terrible understanding of what happens." Merrill's daily chronicle of love and loss is unfettered, self-critical, full of good gossip, and attuned to the telling detail--a natural extension of the great poet's voice"--
More Details
Contributors:
ISBN:
9781101875506
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Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | 8cacbcac-599c-551d-397d-ed46d5be14c6 |
---|---|
Grouping Title | whole world letters from james merrill |
Grouping Author | james merrill |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2024-06-28 05:32:11AM |
Last Indexed | 2024-07-06 22:48:41PM |
Solr Fields
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accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
auth_author2
Hammer, Langdon, 1958-
Yenser, Stephen
Yenser, Stephen
author
Merrill, James, 1926-1995
author2-role
Hammer, Langdon,1958-editor
Yenser, Stephen,editor
Yenser, Stephen,editor
author_display
Merrill, James
display_description
"The selected correspondence of a literary master and one of the twentieth century's last great letter writers. "I don't keep a journal, not after the first week," James Merrill (1926-1995) asserted in a letter to a friend. "Letters have got to bear all the burden." A vivacious correspondent--writing eagerly and often to family and lifelong friends, American and Greek lovers, confidants in literature and art--Merrill pondered aesthetics, opera and painting, housekeeping and cooking, the comedy of social life, the mysteries of the Ouija board and the spirit world, his travels around the globe, and psychological and moral dilemmas in funny, dashing, unrevised missives, composed to entertain himself as well as his correspondents. On a personal nemesis: "the ambivalence I live with. It worries me less and less. It becomes the very stuff of my art;" on a lunch for Wallace Stevens given by Mrs. Knopf: "It had been decided by one and all that nothing but small talk would be allowed"; on romance in his late fifties: "I must stop acting like an orphan gobbling cookies in fear of the plate's being taken away"; on great books: "they burn us like radium, with their decisiveness, their terrible understanding of what happens." Merrill's daily chronicle of love and loss is unfettered, self-critical, full of good gossip, and attuned to the telling detail--a natural extension of the great poet's voice"--
format_category_hm
Books
format_hm
Book
id
8cacbcac-599c-551d-397d-ed46d5be14c6
isbn
9781101875506
itype_hm
ADULT BOOK
last_indexed
2024-07-07T04:48:41.908Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Letters
Non Fiction
Non Fiction
primary_isbn
9781101875506
publishDate
2021
publisher
Alfred A. Knopf
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Merrill, James, -- 1926-1995 -- Correspondence
Poets, American -- 20th century -- Correspondence
Poets, American -- 20th century -- Correspondence
title_display
A whole world : letters from James Merrill
title_full
A whole world : letters from James Merrill / edited by Langdon Hammer and Stephen Yenser
title_short
A whole world
title_sub
letters from James Merrill
topic_facet
Merrill, James
Poets, American
Poets, American
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record_details
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ils:.b26657144 | Book | Books | First edition | English | Alfred A. Knopf | 2021 | xxiii, 700 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm |
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