Milford's biography vividly reveals that the candle Millay burned didn't always emit a "lovely light." She sustained her life with a chaotic mix of love affairs with both men and women, along with alcohol and drugs. Nevertheless, she astonishingly managed to maintain an unwavering dedication to her writing that overshadowed all other commitments. However, I did find the minutiae of Millay's personal struggles somewhat wearisome, though this might be a legitimate portrayal of her life. Milford quotes numerous poems, elucidating their significance during that particular phase of Millay's existence.

Her poetry and interests predominantly centered around love, rather than the world encompassing her. Milford remarks that during World War I, "One would scarcely know, from her letters, that there was a war raging in Europe or that women were marching for suffrage in New York." Yet, she evolved over time. During World War II, she penned poems, initially anti-war and later anti-Nazi, passionately advocating for U.S. involvement. Critics and other writers assailed the poems as mere propaganda, but she vehemently defended them as indispensable. She was appalled by the atrocities unfolding in Germany, and in reference to lyric poets like herself, she wrote: "As they mature, they begin to outgrow themselves and they develop a concern for others."

I was introduced to the captivating poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay during the past semester when I enrolled in an Intro to Poetry class. We delved into her remarkable works such as “I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed” and “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, and Where, and Why.” From that moment on, I became an ardent fan of Millay’s literary prowess and had an insatiable desire to know more about her. So, I scoured the shelves in search of a good biography and stumbled upon Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Vincent, as she was affectionately known by her family and friends, was an extraordinary woman who lived in a fascinating era. She was bold, creative, and possessed an irresistible charisma that drew people to her like moths to a flame. Her child-like beauty, enchanting voice, passionate nature, and sheer talent were truly captivating. Reading excerpts from her letters and diaries was both interesting and entertaining. At times, especially during her college days at Vassar, she seemed almost like a character straight out of a Lucy Maud Montgomery book, albeit one with a penchant for smoking, acting out, and engaging in a great deal more sexual activity than any character Montgomery would have ever conceived.

However, Nancy Milford’s Savage Beauty was a bit of a disappointment for me. While Milford was fairly successful in recounting Vincent’s early years, from childhood through college and into the beginnings of her career and marriage, the book unfortunately lost its momentum towards the end. It became bogged down and lagged, eventually culminating in an abrupt and rather unsatisfying conclusion. Additionally, the author seemed to lack the necessary sympathy towards her subject, which prevented her from discussing some of the more sensitive aspects of Vincent’s life without coming across as gossipy, judgmental, and exploitative. She also allowed her personal animosity towards Norma Millay, Vincent’s sister and a major source for the book, to be blatantly evident in the text. Even as she relied on Norma for access to Vincent’s papers and her recollections, Milford made unsubtle digs at her and questioned her accuracy and motives. This made the narrator of the book seem unlikeable, sneering, insinuating, and condescending. Nevertheless, during the parts of the book where Milford stepped back and let Vincent speak for herself through the documents she left behind, I found the book enjoyable. I just wish there had been more of those moments.

I am eager to read another, more comprehensive and empathetic biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay. If anyone has any suggestions, I would be extremely grateful to hear them.

I have spent the past several days completely immersed in the life of

Edna St. Vincent Millay. So much so that by late morning, having finally finished

and then returned again to re-read the prologue, I find myself a bit hollow

having to let Edna go. (Even though, of course, she’s been gone since 1950.)

As well as my interest in Edna St. Vincent Millay, a trailblazing American poet of her time, her life and her loves, I was also quite enchanted with Steepletop, her house and garden, her library, her typewriter.

I am saddened by another life burdened by addictions, but I admire her convictions, her courage, and her spirit.

This is a story well researched and told marvelously by Nancy Milford, whose biography Zelda I also enjoyed immensely many years ago.

This was a fantastic read!

"Stranger, pause and look;

From the dust of ages

Lift this little book,

Turn the tattered pages,

Read me, do not let me die!

Search the fading letters, finding

Steadfast in the broken binding

All that once was I!”

~ Edna St. Vincent Millay, Collected Poems

Actually, it's more like 3.5 stars. This is a quite long book, and at times it can be a bit of a slog to get through. However, overall, it is truly fascinating. A luminous poet emerges from poverty in Camden, Maine. Camden is a beautiful little town located on the coast, but it doesn't seem so beautiful when you are hungry and cold. Edna goes on to become the most popular poet in the United States, and her books are best sellers. Who would have thought that poetry was the NASCAR of the 1920s? She was quite a woman, sexually active, earning her own way, and living life to the fullest long before Gloria Steinem. Her life wasn't particularly happy, but it was interesting. The Kindle version doesn't have any photos, although they are described, and some of the clumsy layouts often detract from the content.

Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in Maine in 1892.

Her mother divorced her father due to domestic abuse, and she had to move around with her mother and siblings.

Throughout her childhood, she won several awards for her poetry, showing great talent from an early age.

In 1913, she attended Vassar College.

Later, she moved to New York and became a founding member of the Cherry Lane Theatre.

To earn some income, she wrote articles for magazines under a false name.

She also got involved in social, political, and feminist activism.

She began publishing her poetry and gradually made a name for herself as a serious and accomplished professional poet.

Unfortunately, in 1950, she died after falling down the stairs and breaking her neck.

A doctor determined that a heart attack was the cause of her fall.

This book about Millay was really good.

Nancy Milford was given access to Millay's private papers by her surviving sister.

The sister felt that Milford had done a very respectable job on Zelda Fitzgerald and believed she would do justice to her sister as well.

The facts about Millay's life were presented thoroughly and efficiently in the book, yet it was not boring at all.

I didn't know Milford wrote a book about Zelda, so now I need to find that one and read it.

If you are a fan of Millay, you should definitely pick up this book.

I really enjoyed this biography for all that it had to offer. However, a significant portion of it was bogged down by an excessive number of excerpts from letters and such. They just seemed to drone on and on, never-ending.

There wasn't much of a distinct narrative voice from the biographer, which at times made it a rather tedious read. I would have preferred more in-depth analysis of Millay's poetry, but that didn't seem to be the biographer's main focus.

As a basic biography, it sometimes lacked a certain level of detail and psychological insight that a writer without access to published journals or diaries simply can't provide. At times, it even felt a bit skeletal, scattered, and disorganized. Additionally, Millay's life faded away so slowly and sadly that not even the most talented biographer could tell her story without the latter part coming across as somewhat dull and blatantly tragic. I couldn't help but enjoy the first half more, when Millay lived life with such passion and earnestness that she seemed (and often proved herself to be) completely and remarkably invincible, although of course she wasn't.

Overall, despite what the biography lacked and my deep love for Edna St. Vincent Millay, I'm glad I persevered through it, even though I went about two weeks without being able to pick it up. I'm using this book to mark the end (hopefully) of a truly dreadful reading slump.

This book is far too long for the subject matter at hand. I could certainly have stood 100 fewer pages of ESVM's whining. In hindsight, it was a poor choice for my first biography. It has left a horrible taste in my mouth for the entire genre.

I found the author's insertion of herself into the story irritating. The flow (or lack thereof) was not well served by the constant excerpts from letters to and from Millay. I realize that these are the documents upon which the biography is founded, but they became disruptive and distracting.

While I enjoyed Milford's treatment of the early life of this poet, by the time Edna was living in Greenwich village, I had had enough of her.

It was a real chore to get through the middle third of this book. I kept expecting something more from this woman who grew up in abject poverty. I wanted her to be stronger; to have developed a character and a will that could withstand life's turmoil. I was left instead with the impression of a childish, insecure, Munchausen case who barely had the will to get out of bed in the morning.

I began this book with a great deal of enthusiasm and anticipation. I remembered how much I enjoyed Millay's poetry as a teenager. She had been an inspiration. After reading this biography, I feel pity for her. I am underwhelmed by both the writing in this biography, and the person about whom it was written.

The author's excessive self-insertion and the overuse of letter excerpts detracted from the overall reading experience. The lack of a smooth flow made it difficult to engage with the story. Additionally, the portrayal of Millay as a weak and childish individual was disappointing. I had hoped for a more inspiring and empowering account of her life.

Despite my initial excitement, this biography failed to live up to my expectations. It has left me with a negative perception of both the book and the subject matter. I would not recommend this biography to others who are interested in learning about Edna St. Vincent Millay.

A Sympathetic and Perceptive Biography of One of America's Great Poets

This biography offers a captivating exploration into the life and works of one of America's most renowned poets. It delves deep into the poet's personal experiences, the historical context in which they lived, and the creative process that led to their remarkable body of work.

The author's sympathetic approach allows readers to truly understand the poet's joys, sorrows, and struggles. Through vivid descriptions and detailed accounts, we are able to witness the poet's evolution as an artist and as a person. The perceptive analysis of the poet's works provides valuable insights into their themes, styles, and literary techniques.

Whether you are a fan of poetry or simply interested in learning more about the life of a great artist, this biography is sure to engage and inspire you. It offers a unique perspective on one of America's most important literary figures and is a must-read for anyone interested in American literature.

On its surface, the life story of ESVM has been recounted numerous times before. A brilliant artist succumbs to the burdens of her own renown and addictions. Her art endures. She passes away far too young and under tragic circumstances.

This biography is well worth perusing, even though the conclusion is entirely and sorrowfully foreseeable. It is because of Millay's poetry, which, for me, was a glaring void in my literary education. Her poetry is beautiful, haunting, witty, and at times irreverent, yet never so exalted as to be unapproachable. Millay was widely acknowledged as a masterful artist during the American heyday of poetry. She was read and relished by the multitudes and respected and envied by her contemporaries.

Nancy Milford does an excellent job of detailing Millay's early life, even delving back a generation to provide the reader with perspective on how the advantages and complications of her upbringing ultimately influenced her art and her self-destructive behaviors.

A few thoughts come to mind as I continue to reflect on this book and ESVM.

There was shockingly little social or historical context provided until ESVM marched in protest for Sacco and Vanzetti. It seemed as if the poet was largely oblivious to and disengaged from a world beyond what brought her immediate pleasure. There was scant mention of WWI, the flu pandemic (save for ESVM's ode to a lost college mate), and the women's suffrage movement. I felt rather lost when attempting to situate the poet's open sexuality, her college and young adult affairs in relation to what was transpiring in society at that time, or at least the society in which she moved.

The same can be said for the behavior of her mother and grandmother. The courage it must have taken for them to walk away from marriages at the turn of the century and earlier is truly remarkable.

I found the style of speaking in the correspondence between ESVM and her sisters, mother, lovers, and friends to be extremely bizarre, cloying, and slightly deranged. Was this typical of the era and of people in these social strata (ESVM straddled both high and low society)? Her poetry appears so old-fashioned for her time, more like the 19th-century wind swirling through the dark English moors. I know very little about poetry, so perhaps I would benefit from an analysis of ESVM's works.

Yet, after reading this biography, I have little inclination to explore her poetry further. If Milford's portrayal is accurate, the poet is a creature I find repellent - so needy, manipulative, and hardly deserving of sympathy. What is fascinating, however, is her obvious charisma. The wand of charm she wielded was so potent that everyone swooned in her presence, leaving little behind but heartbreak and strangely-written letters.

It's difficult to assign stars to this. I thought it was very well-written, but I didn't care one whit for EsVM - who was mostly a self-absorbed, nasty, ill, and manipulative wench. But I need to think about it all for a bit.

PCC-Chicks Book club read for March.

I fell in love with Edna St. Vincent Millay during my high school days. I borrowed every volume of poetry available at the local library. And when I discovered a volume of her work in college, I didn't hesitate to buy it. According to her biographer, Nancy Milford, falling for Millay was effortless. She was petite yet radiant, brimming with ambition and a sense of her power as both a poet and a woman. When she read her poetry, she commanded the audience's attention like no other author since Dickens' American tours. She charmed, seduced, entranced, and captured hearts, both through her written words and in her daily life.

Thomas Hardy is said to have claimed that America had two great attractions: the skyscraper and the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. The most renowned poet of the Jazz Age, Millay took the nation by storm. She smoked in public, had numerous lovers (both men and women, single and married), defied convention sensationally, and became the epitome of the New Woman. Her poetry became the voice of the young women and men of her era. "Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay" offers a wonderful portrayal of "this passionate, fearless woman who obsessed America even as she tormented herself."

This was an excellent biography. There is an abundance of material, making it challenging to write a summary or even a review. I already knew what a great poet Millay was. I learned that she not only wrote outstanding poetry but also sold prose under a pseudonym, along with plays and a highly acclaimed opera, "The King's Henchmen." Her opera played at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, with sold-out shows night after night. It was fascinating to read about her dedication and precision in this endeavor. Deems Taylor was her collaborator; he composed the music, and she wrote the libretto. She did so, presenting him with an Anglo-Saxon themed piece. When it came to naming it, he suggested "The King's Messenger," and she replied by telegram: "KINGS MESSENGER ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE FOR THIS REASON THE WORD MESSENGER WAS BROUGHT INTO ENGLISH BY THE NORMANS AND I AM WRITING MY ENTIRE LIBRETTO IN ANGLOSAXON THAT IS TO SAW THERE IS NOT A WORD IN THE LIBRETTO WHICH WAS NOT KNOWN IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER IN ENGLISH A THOUSAND YEARS AGO."
When she had a particular vision for her work, whether it was a poem or an opera, there was no way to interfere with her perfectionist perspective. And she was usually right about what worked best.
If you have any interest in Millay, life during the Jazz Age, growing up in Maine, or American Poetry during this time period, then I highly recommend Milford's account of Millay's life. Four stars.

Be forewarned, Milford's work presents several issues. To an educated modern reader, it comes across as sexist and heterosexist, and also paternalistic towards her subjects.

Furthermore, instead of effectively telling or narrating the story, she often seems to simply list what Millay does.

Biography is about transforming data into a captivating story that makes the reader feel as if they knew the person whose life is being told. However, Milford fails to achieve this. It's not surprising when she presents inspiring documents in a dry, list-like manner, such as the repairs to be made to Millay's home.

That being said, Millay herself is an incredibly interesting individual, and her poems, which are quoted abundantly, are sometimes of great quality. So, there is still something to be gained from this book. Nevertheless, I still wouldn't recommend it.

I was also bothered by the unexplained shift from using 'Vincent' to 'Edna' to refer to the subject, which can be quite confusing for the reader.

Overall, while there are some redeeming qualities in Milford's work, the numerous flaws make it a less than satisfactory read.