Excellent. ( )

Anne Sexton is one of my favorite poets and the Middlebrook biography is a great starting place for getting to know the poet behind the poetry. ( )

This is a very well researched biography which links Sexton's poetry to her condition at the time of writing. For those who do not know her work, Sexton produced, almost exclusively, self examining work. This was initially helpful to a lady who had been unloved as a child but, eventually became destructive.

Do not read this book hoping to find a sugar coated version of Sexton's life. Unless you have lived with someone like this, she will come out of these pages as a rather unpleasant, self centred person and it will be difficult to understand how so many people can like her and put themselves out for so little respect. Even if one didn't know the end of Sexton's life, it soon becomes inevitable that things will not end well - and they don't.

Certainly, in Anne Sexton's case, being a tortured soul was directly the cause of her literary output: she was advised to write by her psychiatrist and found that she was rather good. It is strange that someone so unable to appreciate the feelings of others could be so good at putting the human condition into words.

Not a pleasant read, but one well worth the effort, whether one is a fan of her poetry or no. ( )

An interesting biography that refuses to judge the questionable choices of its subject. Middlebrook makes this biography interesting and compassionate. ( )