May Sarton: A Biography

In her last years, Sarton (1912-1995) worried to a friend, ""I have been so depressed at the way I may be massacred by a biographer."" In this authorized life of the poet and novelist, Sarton's wounds are self-inflicted. Peters (The House of Barrymore) concedes that Sarton ""will never be considered a great writer"" and that she ""literally made her own reputation"" through personal appearances, wowing fervid campus, feminist and lesbian audiences. The most devastating testimony against her, however, emerges from Sarton's own words and from the anger of her many betrayed lovers, some of them discarded muses whose inspirational services were no longer required. As one companion put it, Sarton was ""the ardent initiatorDa river of fire""Duntil their affair ruptured on the appearance of a new muse. The biography becomes a litany of book titles (19 novels, 15 poetry collections, 13 memoirs and journals) and descriptions, often striking, of the women sought after and usually subjugated by the ""emotionally ravenous"" Sarton, who was ""incapable of spending more than a few consecutive days in her own company"" yet was ""impossible to live with."" As fair to her subject as the facts permit, Peters, who interviewed Sarton at length in her last years, observes that her subject ""never learned a code of honor or responsibility"" and could seldom be self-critical. Nor could her publisher, Peters contends, accusing W. W. Norton of ""promoting mediocrity"" by rushing into print almost everything submitted by ""their golden goose,"" even when written ""on automatic pilot."" The reader's interest fades as Sarton's ""heavy psychic baggage"" and overproduction prove too much for her biographer to overcome. Ninety-seven photos illustrate Sarton and the people in her tempestuous life. (Mar.)