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Savage Beauty
Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay | Nancy Milford
20 posts | 33 read | 82 to read
Thomas Hardy once said that America had two great attractions: the skyscraper and the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. The most famous poet of the Jazz Age, Millay captivated the nation: She smoked in public, took many lovers (men and women, single and married), flouted convention sensationally, and became the embodiment of the New Woman.Thirty years after her landmark biography of Zelda Fitzgerald, Nancy Milford returns with an iconic portrait of this passionate, fearless woman who obsessed America even as she tormented herself. Chosen by USA Today as one of the top ten books of the year, Savage Beauty is a triumph in the art of biography. Millay was an American originalone of those rare characters, like Sylvia Plath and Ernest Hemingway, whose lives were even more dramatic than their art.
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Leftcoastzen
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#poetrymonth Edna St.Vincent Millay‘s 1920 poem “First Fig” became synonymous with fast living in the Jazz Age all the while she said it was about her obsession to write poetry late into the night .
First Fig
My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh,my friends
It gives a lovely light!

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EchoCharlie
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Celebrating #NationalPoetryMonth right before it ends. Edna St. Vincent Millay has been my favorite poet since high school, so I am throughly enjoying her biography (with blueberry muffins, in honor of her New England childhood)

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Insightsintobooks
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abookishbutterfly I just found this book for my husband as a used book sale! I‘m sure I will read it eventually, too. 6y
lalatiburona This was a great biography. I looooveeee Edna St. Vincent Millay ever so 6y
53 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Rrjohnson
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My Goddaugter got this for graduation. One of my favorites!

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2BR02B
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At the local café-slash-used-bookstore, thought my latte looked lonely, bought it a friend. 😏

saresmoore Really considerate of you. 🙂 6y
BibliOphelia I‘ve heard good things about it! 6y
kgriffith A friend jumped right off the shelf onto my table at the Cafe/bookstore/speakeasy I was at last night! 6y
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MemoirsForMe 😁👍🏻 6y
Cathythoughts Sounds really good ! Stacking 👍🏻 6y
2BR02B @kgriffith That book sounds fantastic! Adding to my TBR. 6y
77 likes1 stack add6 comments
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Moonpa
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#violet - not too many examples among my books
#ReadingResolutions

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batsy
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Two stellar biographies of women who made sure there was always fun, and on their own terms.

#GirlsJustWannaHaveFun #FierceFeb @Cinfhen

Cinfhen Neither cover looks like these "girls" are having fun ? 7y
batsy @Cinfhen 😂 They're looking pretty dour aren't they. But they had a TON of fun, I promise 7y
merelybookish @Cinfhen Haha so true! Probably a lot of their fun was in secret. 7y
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Christine11 These look really interesting! 7y
batsy @Christine11 They are! I love a good biography :) 7y
readordierachel I have Savage Beauty on my shelf :) One of these days I will actually read it 🙃 7y
batsy @ReadOrDieRachel It reads like a novel. So absorbing 7y
ValerieAndBooks I have Savage Beauty, but haven‘t read it yet 😬! 7y
TrishB Look at those covers ❤️ 7y
103 likes2 stack adds9 comments
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meichner87
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Pickpick

"No thing that ever flew,
Not the lark, not you,
Can die as others do."

A solid, engaging biography of a very complex person. I appreciated the care Milford took with not only Vincent's story, but Norma's as well. It did leave me feeling sad: for the end of Millay's life, for the tension between sisters

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meichner87
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Look at what came in for me at the library! Really excited to (eventually) start this one.

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Bookish_B
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Suggested reading for Women's History Month. I don't care for poetry (I know! Don't judge me) but I do like learning about people and she was a really interesting woman. I really enjoyed learning about her. #womenshistorymonth

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Liberty
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Happy Birthday, fellow Mainer and cat namesake. ❤

Camsmom2010 Maine represent! ❤ 8y
kgriffith Oh hey fellow Mainers! 8y
181 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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reneelyons

Recommendations please! I have one book left to finish up Book Riot's #2016ReadHarderChallenge and it's the category I have put off all year - a biography (not a memoir or autobiography). I don't know why I'm struggling with this one, but I would love some recommendations for great biographies!

Reviewsbylola This one was very good. There are a couple of great biographies about the Romanovs out there. 8y
Reviewsbylola I have been dying to read this one. 8y
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Reviewsbylola And this one got me started on my obsession with the Mitford sisters. 8y
reneelyons Thanks for the comments and suggestions @Reviewsbylola!! 8y
reneelyons Thank you @MMenefee!! I will check those out today!! 8y
reneelyons @ReadingOver50 Oh wow, that sounds amazing! 8y
MMenefee @Reviewsbylola Now, I want to read that Sharon Tate book, too. 8y
MMenefee @Reviewsbylola Thanks for all the recommendations! 8y
bitterbear @MMenefee what did you end up picking? 8y
bitterbear The Louise Brooks bio was great... 8y
MMenefee @bitterbear I have all the Sharon Tate bios on here marked as TBR. I love that Louise Brooks bio! And, Crapalachia is a favorite, too. 8y
reneelyons @bitterbear! I'm still deciding! You guys gave me some awesome ideas :) I am also considering the new Shirley Jackson bio! I need to decide by next week to finish before the end of the month! (edited) 8y
21 likes17 comments
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DaniRa
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💃🏼yay! Love when books arrive in the mail! ❣️

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bookriot
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Pickpick

Doing the #2016ReadHarderChallenge? Here's a great recommendation for "Read a biography (not memoir)." Milford's astoundingly well-researched, in-depth look at one of America's most fascinating writers - Edna St. Vincent Millay - is a stunner. Such complex brilliance and fragility in one person. Here's the rest of challenge: http://bookriot.com/2015/12/15/2016-book-riot-read-harder-challenge

SuperPunkNinja Thanks! I've been struggling with this one. 8y
cathysaid Read this several years ago. Fascinating and reads more like a novel. Definitely recommend. 8y
bookwrm526 Thanks for the rec, I'm planning to read Hidden Figures if my library hold comes in, but it's good to have a backup plan if it doesn't! 8y
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Erinkburba I love this book!! Great rec. 8y
H.Louise Great biography. Millay was a fascinating woman. 8y
bitterbear This was great but nothing could compare to Zelda... 8y
bitterbear @bookwrm526 that looked amazing. 8y
Dragon I just bought Zelda at a booksale so glad @bitterbear liked it 😀 8y
bitterbear @Dragon seriously one of my favorite books EVER! I cried. 8y
bitterbear @Dragon let me know what you think when you are done. 8y
147 likes34 stack adds10 comments
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Liberty
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Pickpick

It's #FunFridayPhoto time! Today's photo: a biography you love! There are soooooooo many memoirs these days, but there is still a lot to be said for a really great biography. (Hamilton, anyone?) When I was young, I remember reading and loving Milford's Zelda biography. So I was so excited when she chose to write about one of my favorite people: writer (and Mainer) (and my cat's namesake) Edna St. Vincent Millay! 💕(cont.) #nonfictionnovember

Liberty This book is gripping and fascinating and beautiful, even if you're not familiar with ESVM. I was extra-delighted to learn years after reading it that it was edited by one of my publishing heroes, Benjamin Dreyer. It is perfection. 8y
katedensen Love love love this one. 8y
Moonpa Great pick! I knew nothing of ESVM when I read it and still loved it. This is by far one of the best biographies I have read. 8y
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LeslieO This one has been in my shelf for so long. Time to move it up on the TBR. 8y
angrylilasian I have had this book for years and keep telling myself I need to read it! 8y
Hreynolds This was wonderful 8y
read_diverse_books I haven't heard if the #FunFridayPhoto hashtag. Thanks! 8y
tolmsted Great bio, though I remember feeling a little sad at the end. 8y
LeahBergen Oooo, I love a good bio! 8y
Liberty @tolmsted That's why I've put off visiting Steepletop. I can't handle the staircase. 8y
Kat_Howard I loved this. 8y
141 likes21 stack adds11 comments
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Bookreasons.com
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ESVM: Poetry badass #nationalpoetryday

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CatherineThom
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Where my novels end and my author biographies/books about books begin!

I read Savage Beauty in 2002, and it's one of the few biographies that still lives firmly in my memory: a fantastic telling of the life of one of my favourite poets, Edna St. Vincent Millay.

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Ellen
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"My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light!"

"First Fig"
from A Few Figs from Thistles (1920)

Sydsavvy Beautiful! 8y
2 likes1 comment
review
Ellen
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Pickpick

Finally read years after acquiring - and so glad I did! Well written and researched biography, Milford expertly captures her subject. Even if you don't like poetry (but how can you not love "my candle burns at both ends..."?) Millay lived a fascinating life of ambition, fame and adventure.