Though Plath has become a modern legendary figure, this is the first fully informed account of her life as a poet. With new material of all sorts, Stevenson recounts the struggle between fantasy and reality that blessed the artist but placed a curse on the woman. Photos.

PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • The highly anticipated biography of Sylvia Plath that focuses on her remarkable literary and intellectual achievements, while restoring the woman behind the long-held myths about her life and art. “One of the most beautiful biographies I've ever read." —Glennon Doyle, author of #1 New York Times Bestseller, Untamed With a wealth of never-before-accessed materials, Heather Clark brings to life the brilliant Sylvia Plath, who had precocious poetic ambition and was an accomplished published writer even before she became a star at Smith College. Refusing to read Plath’s work as if her every act was a harbinger of her tragic fate, Clark considers the sociopolitical context as she thoroughly explores Plath’s world: her early relationships and determination not to become a conventional woman and wife; her troubles with an unenlightened mental health industry; her Cambridge years and thunderclap meeting with Ted Hughes; and much more. Clark’s clear-eyed portraits of Hughes, his lover Assia Wevill, and other demonized players in the arena of Plath’s suicide promote a deeper understanding of her final days. Along with illuminating readings of the poems themselves, Clark’s meticulous, compassionate research brings us closer than ever to the spirited woman and visionary artist who blazed a trail that still lights the way for women poets the world over.

Since her suicide at age thirty, Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) has been celebrated for her impeccable and ruthless poetry, which excels at describing the most extreme reaches of Plath's consciousness and passions. Her work includes the autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, and such collections as The Collosus, Ariel, and the Pulitzer Prize -- winning Collected Poems. Based on exclusive interviews and extensive archival research, Rough Magic probes the events of Plath's life -- including her turbulent marriage to the English poet Ted Hughes -- in a biography that stands alone in its compassionate view of this fiercely talented, deeply troubled artist.

Voyages over Voices is the first book length critical exploration of the internationally acclaimed American-British poet Anne Stevenson. A past winner of the The Poetry Foundation's Neglected Masters Award, the Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award for Poetry and the Northern Rock FoundationWriter's Award, Stevenson has long been admired by poets and critics alike as one of the most important contemporary poets on either side of the Atlantic. Angela Leighton brings together a distinguished list of contributors, including Jay Parini, Carol Rumens, Tim Kendall and John Lucas, in a collection that provides a significant and invaluable contribution to understanding Stevenson's work as poet and critic. Voyages over Voices will be requiredreading for scholars contemporary British and American poetry.

Although Ted Hughes ended his days as England's beloved poet laureate, his life was dogged by tragedy and controversy. In this insightful biography, Feinstein explores an altogether more complex situation, throwing new light on his relationship with his lover Assia Wevill, who later killed herself along with their young daughter. 12 photos.

Now in paper for the first time, Bitter Music is a generous volume of writings by one of the twentieth century's great musical iconoclasts. Rejecting the equal temperament and concert traditions that have dominated western music, Harry Partch adopted the pure intervals of just intonation and devised a 43-tone-to-the-octave scale, which in turn forced him into inventing numerous musical instruments. His compositions realize his ideal of a corporeal music that unites music, dance, and theater. Winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award, Bitter Music includes two journals kept by Partch, one while wandering the West Coast during the Depression and the other while hiking the rugged northern California coastline. It also includes essays and discussions by Partch of his own compositions, as well as librettos and scenarios for six major narrative/dramatic compositions.

Drawing on his personal friendship with the poet as well as Ginsberg's journals and correspondence, the author presents a portrait of one of the twentieth century's most extraordinary poets. -- Back cover.