Emily Dickinson: Lives of a Poet - Softcover

YA This well-presented and readable addition to the books on Emily Dickinson debunks the previously accepted view of Emily's father ``as a tyrannical Puritan who blighted his daughter's life'' and the ``sentimentalized view of her that is largely traceable to her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi.'' In addition it wisely points out that ``a subtle sexism has focused our attention on the men in Dickinson's life'' and notes that ``we have hardly taken the same care with the suspected lovers of Walt Whitman, Henry James or Edgar Allan Poe.'' Rather than retracing many of the Dickinson myths, Benfey laces ample photographs and the poet's own words together with information about the influences that nature, her family, and the Civil War had upon her and her writing. Not a biography of the woman as much as a study of the poet, this introduction to her will be enjoyed by students looking to discover the reason behind Dickinson's style and words. It will not be useful for research, however, since the only index is by first line of her poetry. Even without this research capability, it will probably get more use than the scholarly but dry Emily Dickinson (Pantheon, 1986) by Helen McNeil, which does have an extensive index. Carolyn Praytor Boyd, Episcopal High School, Bellaire

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