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Book Review By Amanda Goodwin
Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford

Author Nancy Milford spent more than thirty years writing her biography on the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. The thirty years paid off, as this is the most definitive bio of Edna to date. Edna St. Vincent Millay was a passionate, wild, and extremely talented woman who became a heroine of the Jazz Age, and her poetry was both controversial and incredible. She was also the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. The author, with the help of Millay's sister, also goes into detail on Edna's later life, when she became addicted to morphine, and her mysterious death. This is a story of a woman who was a celebrity in her time, carrying on affairs with both women and men, writing blatantly about sexuality, and a mysterious private life that was never revealed until now.


Plot & Themes
job/profession:
Job/profession/poverty story Yes
Phys disability/mental struggle? Yes
Struggle with - drugs
Period of greatest activity? - 1900+

Subject of Biography
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Ethnicity - White
Nationality - American
Unusual characteristics:

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 6 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
Europe Yes
City? Yes
City: - New York
Farm/Ranch? Yes
Farm/Ranch: - farm
Century: - 1900-1920's

Writing Style
Book makes you feel? - thoughtful
Graphic sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - - lesbians!
Pictures/Illustrations? - A ton 16-20 B&W
How much dialogue in bio? - little dialog
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life? - 51%-75% of book
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