Letters to Jane

by Hayden Carruth

Book Overview

Jane Kenyon, who was married to the poet Donald Hall, earned wide acclaim for her clear, vivid, deeply spiritual lyrics, many of them written in the face of her own -mortality.

During the year of her dying, Carruth's faithful correspondence, collected here, is a testament to the depth of their friendship, and a rare window into the inner life of a major poet as he confronts the loss of a dear friend. Both Carruth and Kenyon have devoted followings;...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1931337179
• ISBN13: 9781931337175
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Ausable Press
• Length: 111 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Honest, Funny, Tender, and True

These letters from Hayden Carruth to Jane Kenyon are an intriguing exploration of a relationship between two great poets. I have always been curious about poets' letters, since they write things in letters they might not reveal under any other circumstances, even, perhaps, in their own poems. For instance, in his letter of May 9, 1994, Carruth writes: "So I frittered away the weekend: read a short manuscript, wrote a few letters, watched a hell of a lot of basketball, read what we used to call cheap-screw fiction. I haven't heard that term for a while. At first it meant under-the-counter porn, but later came to mean any escapist literature. As a consequence, on top of the desperation and depression, I feel guilt. What else is new?" For those who picture the writer's life as one in which the author sits thoughtfully poised over a manuscript 24-hours a day, this may come as a revelation: writers waste time, they struggle to keep themselves on track, they fail, they get depressed as a result of their failures. I find this revelation uplifting rather than sad: it shows Carruth's nuts and bolts existence and in doing so, reveals his humanity. In another letter he talks about having to take his laptop computer to a repair shop because of "excessive cat hair." Carruth, a lover of cats, says that his repairman suggested he get rid of the cat whereupon Carruth admits to Kenyon: "I said immediately, 'Oh, I can't do that,' implying that my wife wouldn't stand for it, which was a cowardly way out, and no doubt sexist too. The fact is I wouldn't stand for it either." Such moments of marvelous self-disclosure are frequent in this book. If you are holding off buying this because you've read other authors' letters and found them boring, don't hesitate any longer. Carruth's presence in these letters is huge. These letters are honest, funny, tender, and true. I am in awe of the relationship Carruth and Kenyon had, and a bit envious, too. I highly recommend this book for writers and for those interested in 20th Century poetry.