Sylvia Plath died in 1963, and even now her outsize persona threatens to bury her poetry--the numerous biographies and studies often drawing the reader toward anecdote and away from the work. It's a relief to turn to the poems themselves and once more be jolted by their strange beauty, hard-wrought originality, and acetylene anger.
In this lively and accessible introduction to Sylvia Plath's writing, Bassnett offers a balanced view of one of the finest modern poets. Bassnett argues that there can never be any definitive version of the Plath story, but from close reading of the texts she left behind, readers can discover the excitement of her diverse work. The second edition includes three new chapters and ends with a reading of Ted Hughes' Birthday Letters.
Sylvia Plath: A Literary Life examines the way Plath made herself into a writer. Close analysis of Plath's reading and apprenticeship writing both in fiction and poetry sheds considerable light on Plath's work in the late 1960s. In this updated edition there will be discussion of the aftermath of Plath's death, including the publication of her Collected Poems--edited by Ted Hughes--which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1982.
