num_pages: 413
description: This is the first authoritative biography of the poet Sylvia Plath, a tense, precocious, New England-bred woman whose principal works were not published until after her suicide, at thirty, in London in 1963. Her writings have branded a permanent mark on our literary consciousness. Bitter Fame brings together the testimony of those who knew Plath best, many of whom have never before spoken out. Relying on published and unpublished sources, and benefiting from the unstinting help of Plath's sister-in-law Olwyn Hughes, it explores Plath's poetry with a distinctive freshness and concentration. Few recent literary biographies have been more widely and attentively reviewed:“It is a pleasure to witness the poet's extraordinary development through the eyes of an informed, sensitive reader.” — Robert Pinsky, New York Times Book Review“The closest thing to an 'authorized' biography we are likely to get.” — Washington Post Book World“The most comprehensive, balanced, and perceptive work on Sylvia Plath's life and death and writing.” — W. S. Merwin“A powerful, wonderfully readable biography: very intelligent, gracefully coordinated.” — Joyce Carol Oates“Bitter Fame is as uncompromising in its assessment of its subject as it is critically astute about her poetry.” — Boston Globe“Anne Stevenson's admirable, important, and lucid book is written to counter twenty-five years of misinformation and cant . . . . as absorbing as a novel.” — London MagazineAnne Stevenson, Plath's contemporary, is an American-bred poet who has lived most of her life in Britain.
language: English
title: Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath
titlecomplete: Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath
genres: Writing, Biography, American, Poetry, Nonfiction, Womens, Literature, Biography Memoir, Mental Illness, History
ratings_count: 1091
publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company