Nonfiction Choices

1776; D. McCullough
is a pretty riveting account of that significant year. It centers on George Washington and his pivotal role in winning the Revolutionary War. I was surprised at the number of really bad decisions Washington made that first year (according to this author). Washington was never confident that he was up to the job, and there was definitely a learning curve. Very Good



Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay; N. Milford
is a thoroughly engrossing bio of the poet. St. Vincent Millay died in 1950 and the author does a great job describing both her childhood and her "queen of bohemia" lifestyle in the 20s and 30s. She was a pretty fascinating woman. The bio includes many of her most famous poems ("My candle burns at both ends...") and provides terrific background info. After reading this, I bought The Selected Poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay and have since become a devoted Edna fan. I think my favorite might be "Renascence" which she wrote when she was 20! Very Good


The Life of Emily Dickinson; R. Sewall
was not as compelling as the St. Vincent Millay biography. Of course, Dickinson was wonderfully talented and I enjoyed getting to know about her life, of which I knew nothing except that she had been a recluse. I discovered only 7 out of 1800 poems by Dickinson were published while she was still alive! This book won the National Book Award when it was published (don't know the year). It offers a great deal of her poetry to the reader, as well. Favorites: "Hope Is a Thing with Feathers" and "A Book." Very Good


Sailing Alone Around the Room: Selected and New Poems by Billy Collins
is a collection of poems by the US Poet Laureate 2001-2003. I like his poetry because it's very accessible. Some are laugh out loud funny and others are very thoughtful. It's really poetry for everyone. Favorites: "The Art of Drowning" and "Forgetfulness."Very Good