Berryman's Shakespeare: Essays, Letters and Other Writings FROM THE PUBLISHER
John Berryman, one of America's most talented modern poets, was winner of the Pulitzer Prize for 77 Dream Songs and the National Book Award for His Toy, His Dream, His Rest. He gained a reputation as an innovator whose bold literary adventures were tempered by exacting discipline. Berryman was also an active, prolific, and perceptive critic whose own experience as a major poet served to his advantage.
Berryman was a protégé of Mark Van Doren, the great Shakespearean scholar, and the Bard's work remained one of his most abiding passions-he would devote a lifetime to writing about it. His voluminous writings on the subject have now been collected and edited by John Haffenden. This book shows that Berryman's interest in Shakespeare was that of an expert scholar who thought seriously and deeply about his subject.
John Haffenden is a professor of English literature at the University of Sheffield. His publications include The Life of John Berryman, Viewpoints: Poets in Conversation, and a study of poet and critic William Empson. * "As this book demonstrates, [Berryman] was the greatest Shakespearean of twentieth-century American poets." (James Wood, The New Republic) * "[A] wonderful book . . . Haffenden deserves thanks for opening the labyrinth of Berryman's writings to public view." (Stuart Sherman, Chicago Tribune)
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