A Whole World

January 1, 2021
A self-portrait in letters by an iconic poet and indefatigable correspondent. Hammer, a Merrill biographer and English professor at Yale, and Yenser, a poet, literary critic, and Merrill's co-literary executor, have gathered a copious selection of letters by the acclaimed poet (National Book Award, Pulitzer, etc.), beginning with young Jimmy's request to "Santa Clause" for a flashlight and continuing through countless letters to family, friends, lovers, and literary luminaries. The son of Charles Merrill, founder of Merrill Lynch, the poet had a privileged childhood: By the age of 12, he had seen 18 operas. But he grew up beset, he admitted, by "my sense of what others expected of me, and my shame over not being the person they wanted me to be." At the age of 20, writing to his first lover, he confessed, "through you I have made the first assertion away from my family." Still, he reported that their relationship precipitated "another long, quiet, strained talk" with his mother, who insisted that he see a psychiatrist. Many letters are ebulliently alive with gossip, such as Merrill's delightfully catty recounting of a lunch hosted by publisher Alfred Knopf ("sniffing about in his chalkblue suit") to celebrate the 75th birthday of a grumpy Wallace Stevens; guests included Marianne Moore, wearing a black tricorne (whom Merrill met there for the first time), W.H. Auden, Jacques Barzun ("someone to whom I was never introduced," Merrill noted), and Lionel Trilling. Many letters chronicle his affairs and long-term relationships. Diagnosed with HIV in 1986, Merrill reported on his health only to a few confidants. Amplified by the editors' authoritative annotations, a chronology, and capsule biographies of major figures in Merrill's life, the book creates a palpable sense of the poet's wide, eventful world, "properly stuffed with culture and people," travels, and accomplishments--as well as struggles and, inevitably, loss. An engaging, meticulously edited collection for all fans of literary biography.

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March 1, 2021

The first letter that poet James Merrill wrote was to Santa, asking for a flashlight for Christmas. The last, written four days before his death in 1995, was addressed to a newly published author, congratulating him on his first published book. In his adult years, Merrill wrote almost daily: to family, friends, lovers and ex-lovers, and acquaintances. Much of this collection, edited by Hammer (English, Yale Univ.; James Merrill: Life and Art) and poet Yenser (The Fire in All Things), is ephemeral--chatter and gossip, though with an extensive cast of characters--but the regularity with which Merrill wrote demonstrates his passion for the art of writing. The picture that emerges is of a man who fell in love easily but, in the end, always held back on committing. What stands out is Merrill's detailing at length the craft of poetry writing and how he revised his own poems. Notable is his infatuation with the Ouija board, which inspired his massive three-volume epic, The Changing Light at Sandover (1976-80). Toward the end, his letters tell of his health difficulties after contracting AIDS and reflect on his overall life. VERDICT This sumptuously produced collection of letters will appeal mostly to literary enthusiasts.--David Keymer, Cleveland

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