Elizabeth Bishop's World War II - Cold War View

From Library Journal
In this fascinating study of the year Elizabeth Bishop (1911-79) spent as poet laureate of the United States, Roman (English, Washington State Univ.) paints a compelling portrait of the United States just as it was throwing itself into the Cold War. Among other social phenomena was the "postwar demobilization of women" into traditional feminine "American" roles of wife, mother, and homemaker. Bishop fit into none of these categories: she was single, lesbian, and not even fully "American," having lived in Canada for many years. She also suffered from severe asthma, depression, and alcoholism. Bishop's year in her office at the Library of Congress gave her a unique vantage point to observe a rapidly changing nation, helping to deepen her sense of alienation from it. The only flaw in this otherwise well-written and succinct study is that more examples of Bishop's poetry are not included. Highly recommended for literature collections. Diane Gardner Premo, Rochester P.L., NY Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Choice
...Roman's detailed and sensitive analysis adds greatly to the reader's understanding of the poet and her work.


Review
“In this fascinating study of the year Elizabeth Bishop (1911-79) spent as poet laureate of the United States, Roman paints a compelling portrait of the United States just as it was throwing itself into the Cold War. Well written, succinct, and highly recommended.” —Diane Gardner Premo, Library Journal

“...Roman's detailed and sensitive analysis adds greatly to the reader's understanding of the poet and her work.” —A.E. McKim, Choice

...increases our knowledge of Bishop's work and enhances our understanding of the...context in which it was produced.
-The New England Quarterly



Book Description
Elizabeth Bishop's World War II—Cold War View offers the first comprehensive portrayal of the poet in mid-century America. The elusive story of Bishop’s national, cultural, and literary politics during the World War II—Cold War period finally is brought into sharp focus—as the book traces her life and writing from the war years in Key West through her tenure as the 1949-1950 national poet laureate at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Our understanding of Bishop is completely reshaped by this study’s unique ability to easily move back and forth between a wide-ranging cultural critique of mid-20th-century America and a careful, close, and chronological reading of the poet.



About the Author
Camille Roman is Associate Professor of English at Washington State University and a Visiting Scholar at Brown University, has co-edited nearly a dozen books and is currently co-editing the three volume anthology American Poetry 1650-2000.



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Roman (English, Washington State U.) examines the American poet's national, cultural, and literary politics from the war years in Key West through her tenure as the 1949-50 national poet laureate at the Library of Congress. She alternates a cultural critique of America at mid-century with close, chronological readings of Bishop's work. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)


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