E.E. CUMMINGS: A Biography
Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno, . . Sourcebooks, $29.95 (624pp) ISBN 978-1-57071-775-8
This nimble biography of the self-proclaimed " 'small eye poet,'" who united the avant-garde with tradition in his creations, works best as the story of a man in lifelong agitation about his desires and the demands of his real life. Born in Cambridge, Mass., to an established family, his father a Harvard instructor, Edward Estlin Cummings (1894–1962) came to reject his father's piety but was consumed by the guilt his upright upbringing engendered, a condition that affected his art and his interactions with women throughout his life. Cummings's student years at Harvard and his WWI involvement are covered at length, with particular attention to the publication of his first prose work,
Reviewed on: 08/30/2004
Genre: Nonfiction
Paperback - 624 pages - 978-1-4022-0594-1