Life Studies and For the Union Dead

Robert Lowell

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Paperbacks

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Robert Lowell, with Elizabeth Bishop, stands apart as the greatest American poet of the latter half of the twentieth century—and Life Studies and For the Union Dead stand as among his most important volumes. In Life Studies, which was first published in 1959, Lowell moved away from the formality of his earlier poems and started writing in a more confessional vein. The title poem of For the Union Dead concerns the death of the Civil War hero (and Lowell ancestor) Robert Gould Shaw, but it also largely centers on the contrast between Boston’s idealistic past and its debased present at the time of its writing, in the early 1960's. Throughout, Lowell addresses contemporaneous subjects in a voice and style that themselves push beyond the accepted forms and constraints of the time.

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C.K. Williams reads Robert Lowell's poem "For the Union Dead"

Listen to this poetry reading to hear poet C.K. Williams read Robert Lowell's poem "For the Union Dead," from Lowell's poetry collection Life Studies and For the Union Dead. Learn more about the book at http://us.macmillan.com/lifestudiesandfortheuniondead/RobertLowell Read more about renowned poet Robert Lowell at http://us.macmillan.com/author/robertlowell Learn more about Pulitzer Prize-winning poet C.K. Williams at http://us.macmillan.com/author/ckwilliams

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Frank Bidart reads Robert Lowell's poem "Memories of West Street

Listen to this poetry reading to hear poet Frank Bidart read Robert Lowell's poem "Memories of West Street and Lepke," from Lowell's poetry collection Life Studies and For the Union Dead. Learn more about the book Life Studies and For the Union Dead at http://us.macmillan.com/lifestudiesandfortheuniondead/RobertLowell Read more about renowned poet Robert Lowell at http://us.macmillan.com/author/robertlowell Learn more about poet Frank Bidart at http://us.macmillan.com/author/frankbidart

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Henri Cole reads Robert Lowell's poem "To Speak of Woe That Is i

Listen to this poetry reading to hear poet Henri Cole read Robert Lowell's poem "To Speak of Woe That Is in Marriage," from Lowell's poetry collection Life Studies and For the Union Dead. Learn more about the book Life Studies and For the Union Dead at http://us.macmillan.com/lifestudiesandfortheuniondead/RobertLowell Read more about renowned poet Robert Lowell at http://us.macmillan.com/author/robertlowell Learn more about poet Henri Cole at http://us.macmillan.com/author/henricole

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Reviews

Praise for Life Studies and For the Union Dead

“Robert Lowell is, by something like a critical consensus, the greatest American poet of the mid-century . . . More than any contemporary writer, poet, or novelist, Lowell has created the language, cool and violent all at once, of contemporary introspection.” –Richard Poirier, Book Week
 
“Life Studies gives us the naked psyche of a suffering man in a hostile world, and Lowell’s way to manage this material, to keep it, is by his insistent emphasis on form. The natural heir to Eliot and pound as well as to Crane, he extends their methods.” –M. L. Rosenthal, Salamagundi

Reviews from Goodreads

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Emily  rated it  
Jul 30, 2008
Great, snarky, blue-blooded poet. If you've ever lived in Boston, or had a family that drove you nuts, read this. ...more
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Catherine  rated it  
Jun 18, 2008
this is my favorite book of poetry,
"these victorious figures of bravado ossified young." ...more
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Seth  rated it  
Jun 11, 2008
motherfucker can write some POETRY. ...more
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About the Author

Robert Lowell

Robert Lowell (1917-1977) was the author of a dozen volumes of poetry, for which he twice received the Pulitzer Prize.

Robert Lowell

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Available Formats and Book Details

Life Studies and For the Union Dead
Robert Lowell

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux Paperbacks
October 2007
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780374530969
ISBN10: 0374530963
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 176 pages
$15.00
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