Millay is one of those poets who can convey her passions succinctly. with detail, but a passionate brevity. a woman's perspective on love, friends, eternity, and humanity that can be read by any gender. The editor, however, mistakenly describes Millay's wellknown poem "Renescence" as a poem "about being buried alive". ridicuously misinterpreting Millay's theme of rebirth and reincarnation. I own this book and am happy to have the comfort of Millay's poetry.

This book is a good introduction to the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay presenting many of her most memorable poems. It is not a comprehensive presentation of her writing (for example, some of her more erotic poems are not present) but it is not meant to be. The introduction is good and provides the highlights of her life and career. I would like to have had a chronology of her life and a list of her complete works in this book. Overall, this volume satisfied my curiosity but I would want a good biography to accompany this book in order to know more about St. Vincent Millay.

I must also comment on the book itself. My copy has many pages that were cut at an angle with the result that when they were bound the text becomes the margin! The end papers were also effected so the design is set on a slight angle, the edge of which comes close to being cut off. It was unsettling for me to find this book in this condition. I did not return it because I did not care to go to the expense (considering the price of the book) of packaging the book to send back.

i will review this as a subset of her collected poems. millay was extremely talented, and had a resurgence in 2001 , she has
a memorial stamp from 1981. she is one of the best poets of american literature, this will be an excellent addition to your library, and an exciting opportunity to rediscover a very talented lady often neglected , i am comparing her sonnets to
shakespeares, since they are so well done

This Side of Paradise is the first F. Scott Fitzgerald book I have ever read. I know this is somewhat sad, as he is one of the most important writers in American literary history. If this is an example of his work, then this will certainly not be the last F. Scott Fitzgerald book that I read. The protagonist, Amory Blaine, is easy to identify with (at least for me), and his story fits in perfectly with the time period in which this novel was written. Most of the "classics" are portrayed as dry and boring; this one is not, and you should not hesitate to read it.

This Side of Paradise captured a human being more completely and honestly than any other book I have ever read. Amory Blaine is the main character, but he can't really be called a "hero" or a "protagonist;" he has all the same petty, self-centered, foolish thoughts at times that all real people have; he has ego problems; he has all the passion of youth and none of the direction of age that is sometimes falsely imparted on young characters by their authors. Do not read this book for a story, because it has none; it is rather a character study, the portrait of an ordinary and extraordinary human being, but it is one so undeniably brilliant and candid, so mind-stoppingly beautiful, that it should be read at all costs and as soon as possible by everyone who has ever looked in the mirror.

Many people consider The great Gatsby to be Fitzgerald's greatest work. In doing this they are shortchanging him from all his other novels, and his short stories (which are also gems of craftsmanship). This side of paradise is a work that I consider equal to the Catcher of the Rye by Salinger. It evokes a setting and a time, captured beautifully, that has been past and never to come again. However, we of the 2000s can still relate to the protagonist because what he goes through in college: the inadequacies, the romance, the questions, is something that we all feel, are torn by, and befuddled with. The work makes you laugh at it's antics mainly because we can place ourselves in those setting and making the same mistakes. The prose is so beautiful because Fitzgerald was a careful craftsman and left nothing to chance. This is a coming=of=age story every young person need to read, and every young-at-heart person, for that matter. So sit back with this book, and be ready to be taken to an era that will never be again, but will always live on in Amory Blaine (the protagonist) and everyone who has a little Amory in them.

i started this book with little or no knowledge of millay, except that the critical stance on her poetry changes more often than the weather. after enjoying ZELDA, i looked forward to some insight to millay's character. it isn't there.

among the objectionable-to-me points: milford is apparently masterful with the early years of poverty, isolation and abandonment, but towards the end of the biograghy, when reviewing two works and quoting cora millay, edna's mother, milford suggests there may have been incidents involving outsiders when the three children were left alone for weeks, or that cora's life might not have been as entirely celibate as presented at first. this seems to me either dishonest reporting or extremely bad organization. also, in several places, milford allows quotations from friends' writings and interviews to stand without explanation or support. do these statements reflect a groundless personal malice, provable truth, or something else? milford does not explain.

although milford had the chance to interview people who had known edna personally, including her sister, norma, and norma's husband, charles ellis (a painter), the book contains, to me, far to little information from these people. in fact, one statement by charles ellis, which is not expanded, is so revealing of aspects of character not touched upon that i was shocked that milford did not adress the subject further.

however, this is still a worthwhile biography, and i would have liked to add a half star. millay was a multi-talented, creative artist who led a life that would be hard to present in a novel, one that was literally rags-to-riches, and in which she enjoyed more luck and support than any dozen other people. having read a great deal of and about the algonquin circle, i was not surprised by the life-style (though i would like to know if millay ever met parker).

One reader in an Amazon called Edna St. Vincent Millay "obscure to most Americans..." I would have to disagree. After Emily Dickinson, she is certainly America's best known poet and not just because she was the first American woman poet to win a Pulitzer Prize.
Nancy Milford has unearted and sifted through a formidable amount of material to bring us the life of this deeply flawed, but endlessly interesting woman who took lovers, both male and female the way many people take a drink. She was an alcoholic, a drug addict and a deeply vulnerable woman who, for quite some time, was America's darling.
Milford's exploration of Millay's early years and her close family ties are brilliantly portrayed as are the times she lived in and her tortured relationship with her publishers. If Millay's poetry is not at the level of some others, that is really beside the point. The book is endlessly fascinating and well written. The only discordant note for me was that it ended at Millay's death. We should have been told about the funeral and the aftermath.

As an author with my debut novel in its initial release, I was fascinated with Nancy Milford's biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay. SAVAGE BEAUTY is a groundbreaking book about a groundbreaking woman. Ms. Milford tells the story of Ms. Millay's life from her youth as a most promising young writer to her unfortunate tragic death. Without pulling many punches, Ms. Milford presents Ms. Millay at the height of her fame--when she was queen of the American literary world. It discusses her nontraditional lifestyle and her freewheeling sexual adventures. SAVAGE BEAUTY is a great book--well written and accurate. Read it soon. You will enjoy it.

"Zelda:A Biography," by Nancy Milford, is a depressing story about a woman (with a few bats in her belfry) torn by the never-ending clash of her husband's career and her own talent. A story I could have lived without!

I absolutely adored this book. It is extremely depressing at times to read considering the life of the woman the book is based upon, but other than that, it was fascinating. Milford' writing style is unique as well as informative and quite objective. The details about Zelda's life could only come from an author who has done her research. I would definetly recommend this book.

Semi-brilliant because it was still a time when Zelda was explained as sick because of her ambition and lack of satisfaction in the demands of being a wife and mother. No one thought to tell her as a child she may have to make her own way and Scott only said it later because he was tired of her financial drain on him and already looking with desire at other women. She expected exactly what she was told would happen, and it did happen for a little while, until it all started falling apart.She wasn't prepared, but made a valiant attempt to succeed- Against a destructive jealous alcoholic genius husband, a snobbish daughter, and a world that wished she would learn her "place", could you have stayed sane? Granted she wasn't an angel, but F. Scott Fitz owes his very legend to her. This book reveals through her own words and those of others what she may have been, and frankly what she became as a writer and artist is more than many "sane" people will ever be.