Product Description
Emily Dickinson is best known as an intensely private, even reclusive writer. Yet the way she has been mythologised has meant her work is often misunderstood. This introduction delves behind the myth to present a poet who was deeply engaged with the issues of her day. In a lucid and elegant style, the book places her life and work in the historical context of the Civil War, the suffrage movement, and the rapid industrialisation of the United States. Wendy Martin explores the ways in which Dickinson's personal struggles with romantic love, religious faith, friendship and community shape her poetry. The complex publication history of her works, as well as their reception, is teased out, and a guide to further reading is included. Dickinson emerges not only as one of America's finest poets, but also as a fiercely independent intellect and an original talent writing poetry far ahead of her time. ... Read more

Product Description
This text puts Dickinson in a class with Whitman, Frost, Stevens, Eliot, and Crane. Analyzed are "There's a certain Slant of light," "Because I could not stop for Death," and "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant."

Also featured is a comprehensive biography of Emily Dickinson, a user's guide, detailed plot summaries of each novel, extracts from important critical essays, a complete bibliography of Dickinson's works, an index of themes and ideas, and editor's notes and introduction by Harold Bloom.This series, Bloom's Major Poets, is edited by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University; Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Professor of English, New York University Graduate School; preeminent literary critic of our time. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Publisher: Little, Brown and Comp.; Publication date: 1906; Subjects: Biography ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Miss Emily in April
For National Poetry Month this month, I decided to pick up a book that's been on the nightstand for quite some time.It's a collection of Poems by Emily Dickinson.I fell in love with Emily back in college when I was first exposed to her verse in a creative writing course.

Many of her poems are so haunting and mysterious.I bought post-it tabs just so I could mark all the poems I wanted to remember.There were so many that struck a chord with me which I know I'll want to come back and read again.Had I lived near Emily back in the day, I know we would have been good friends.

She's so inspiring to a poet like me.Her poems definitely reflect a writer ahead of her time.Here's one of her many nameless poems which I tabbed...

SO proud she was to die
It made us all ashamed
That what we cherished, so unknown
To her desire seemed.

So satisfied to go
Were none of us should be,
Immediately, that anguish stooped
Almost to jealousy.

This is an out of print collection which is worth getting your hands on if you can find it.Spend some time with Emily.You won't be disappointed.

Timeless
This is a timeless book of poetry. For all poetry enthusiast and a lovely read when you only have a few stolen moments to read...while the baby is napping, the laundry is drying or waiting for the kids to get out of class. It is a wonderful gift for a dear friend!

Great Poet; Poorly Published
Emily Dickinson is wonderful, but this particular edition is unsatisfactory.The book is filled with misprints (reading today, I found three within 20 pages!)It also lacks an index of either titles or first lines.I recommend Dickinson's poetry, but from a different editor.

EXCELLENT
I loved this book! It had amazing poems written be Emily Dickinson herself. AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING!:)I would defiently reccomend this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Emily Dickinson was born into a prominent New England family. Sociable as a child, she grew increasingly withdrawn, and in later years became known as a recluse. Only seven of her poems were published during her lifetime. After Emily's death in 1886, her sister discovered the bulk of her poems and began publishing them, thus establishing Emily Dickinson as one of the greatest poets of the English language.Amazon.com Review
At the age of 23, Emily Dickinson receded from the socialwhirl of her prominent family into semiseclusion. For the remaining 23years of her life she was happiest when alone and writing. As sherequested in "The Prayer," "Great Spirit, give to me a heaven not solarge as yours, but large enough for me." Read by a group of verytalented celebrity women such as Meryl Streep, Sharon Stone, and AlfreWoodard, these pieces lean toward the somber side of Dickinson's work(which, as her fans know, is very somber indeed). Poems include"Shipwreck," "Will There Really Be a Morning?" and "To Know Just HowHe Suffered." (Running time: 45 minutes, 1 cassette)--C.B. Delaney ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

What A Disappointment
A CD that contains fifty poems of my favorite poet read in part by perhaps my favorite actress Meryl Streep-- now that's a CD you can tip your hat to-- well not exactly. If there ever was a poet whose works do not need background music while being read, it has to be those of Miss Dickinson. If we have to have music connected with the poems, we can listen to those poems that Aaron Copland and Ned Rorem set to music. The music on this CD had become pretty much a mild aggravation, a little like getting two radio stations on a car radio late at night, when on poem number 33, "The Lonely House," I recognized Robert Schumann's famous "Traumeri"as the music swelled. There is no excuse for this.

The editors have allowed themselves to name some of the poems included here. Anyone who has ever read Dickinson knows that she never named any of her poems and that they are usually identified by first lines.It also would have been convenient for the listener if the words to the poems had been included with the CD. They are not. Neither are we told which reader is reading what poem. (In addition to Ms. Streep, Glenda Jackson, Stephanie Beacham and Sharon Stone read as well. While I recognize Glenda Jackson's voice and Ms. Streep's sometimes, I do not have the faintest idea what either Sharon Stone or Stephanie Beacham's voices sound like. I would gladly have paid more for a better produced CD.

Even all these shortcomings cannot mar the beauty of these rich and wonderful poems with such lines as "the sordid excellence as paradise" if they could just turn off the music!And many of Miss Dickinson's lesser-known poems are included, along with some of those most often anthologized, including my favorite poem "The Bustle in a House."

Dickinson was before her time
I've never been into poetry before but Ms Dickinson's poems just blow me away.The readers are perfect for the job - they put emotion and energy into the words making the CD a pleasure to listen to.Highly recommended.

Excellent Readings, But NOT the Poems Listed on the CD
These witty, sly, despairing performances breathe new life and new perspectives into the poems and the poet. Unfortunately, the poems listed on the back of the CD are NOT the poems you hear on the CD, which makes it difficult to know which actress is reading and exactly what she is reading. It's also impossible to directly access a poem directly --- everything falls under a 45 minute Track 1. Finally, this is Fifty Poems of Emily Dickinson, Volume 3. What happened to Volumes 1 and 2? I saw them once as cassettes, but never as CDs.

Perfect marriage of medium and message
Joan Allen, of all people, emerges as the stand out in this collection of wonderfully nuanced readings of poet Emily Dickinson's deceptively simple poems on nature and human truths. Just terrific!

The delivery is as smooth as Emily's poems
If you like Emily Dickenson (and I do) you will love this audio cassette. The readers include Meryl Streep, Sharon Stone, and other great female talents. They read the poems with style and a subtility that matches the work of the poet. After hearing the presentations, I came away feeling that the poems were studied by the readers and for the most part understood and delivered accordingly. Thumbs up! ... Read more

Product Description
Extending the critical discussion which has focused on the hymns of Isaac Watts as an influence on Emily Dickinson's poetry, this study brings to bear the hymnody of Dickinson's female forbears and contemporaries and considers Isaac Watts' position as a Dissenter for a fuller understanding of Dickinson's engagement with hymn culture. Victoria N. Morgan argues that the emphasis on autonomy in Watts, a quality connected to his position as a Dissenter, and the work of women hymnists, who sought to redefine God in ways more compatible with their own experience, posing a challenge to the hierarchical 'I-Thou' form of address found in traditional hymns, inspired Dickinson's adoption of hymnic forms. As she traces the powerful intersection of tradition and experience in Dickinson's poetry, Morgan shows Dickinson using the modes and motifs of hymn culture to manipulate the space between concept and experience - a space in which Dickinson challenges old ways of thinking and expresses her own innovative ideas on spirituality.Focusing on Dickinson's use of bee imagery and on her notions of religious design, Morgan situates the radical re-visioning of the divine found in Dickinson's 'alternative hymns' in the context of the poet's engagement with a community of hymn writers. In her use of the fluid imagery of flight and community as metaphors for the divine, Dickinson anticipates the ideas of feminist theologians who privilege community over hierarchy. ... Read more

Product Description
A master photographer and three distinguished scholars document the physical world of Emily Dickinson. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Dis-spiriting
This book is so frustrating, I almost don't want to review it, but here's my 60 second review:anyone who loves Emily Dickinson's mind-her temperament, her cognitive style, her insights, her ironical sensibility-will likely find this book wrongheaded-or extraneous.For brevity and to illustrate the objectionable spirit of the book, I'll confine my critique to Barton Levi St. Armand's essay, which is really its heart.

St. Armand begins wooing (his own metaphor) the aged Mary Hampson, latter-day Miss Havisham and final inhabitant of The Evergreens, Austin Dickinson's home.Hampson is not related to the Dickinsons and came into ownership of the home under bizarre and slightly dubious circumstances; clearly she's suffering from paranoid delusions, and her passion for Martha Dickinson Bianchi and against Mabel Todd reflects perhaps a combination of psychosexual obsession, egotism, need for a cause.(I find it ironic that essayist Polly Longsworth goes to the effort of diagnosing Emily Dickinson with avoidant personality disorder and various anxiety disorders, something I'd dispute or at least find in poor taste; but then this obvious nut, Mary Hampson, is portrayed as a grand dame, an artiste.)

In any event, you can imagine the details:she invites and repels various academics; if they please her, they get to plunder her literary treasures.St. Armand wins the courtship, gets the keys to the house, serves as head trustee for the newly formed Martha Dickinson Bianchi trust, and in the process loses any sense of objective vision or irony; he's won the courtship and won't admit the bride is ugly.(This in itself is ironic, since the essay discusses opthamological imagery:strabismus, exophoria, exotropia relative to E.D.)St. Armand is lost!He digs up swamp magnolias to transplant to his garden, seems to think it's charming when Mary Hampson habitually kicks Richard Sewall's (to my thinking subtle, excellent) volumes of biography.

And who is Mary Hampson?"I recall my mother joining me once, and Mary saying to her, `You don't care a damn about Emily Dickinson, do you!' This was a mark of approval rather than of disdain..." he writes.On another occasion, Hampson says, "For me Martha is the greater poet-because I knew her."Then, "...it has suddenly occurred to me that there could be another reason why Sue did not finish the work she had started on Emily.All these pseudoscholars never seem to realize that Susan and Martha had lives of their own' and so could not waste all their time `just sitting around here-a couple of Emily shadows.'"(Ahem-irony there.)I just want to clarify that the final occupant of The Evergreens actually seems contemptuous of Emily Dickinson.She's for the "Dickinsons of the Evergreens."

Why does this matter to the spirit of the book?Because St. Armand finally makes the (absurd) point of comparing, even equating, Mary Hampson's work in preserving the tattered, mildewing remnants of The Evergreens to Emily Dickinson's work as a poet.That the doors of The Evergreens were opened to Jerome Liebling to photograph, before the house finally decomposed or underwent renovation, seems an excellent idea, and many of the luminous photos--tattered Morris wallpaper in lurid tones--are lovely.But I object, finally, to the disingenuous manipulation of imagery in the book, the juxtaposition of tight, bright, white "Emily" photos and the tatters and shreds of the neighboring home.Even the captions are condescending and misleading:"A tear in the William Morris pattern:Susan Dickinson's damaged household"-as if we're beholding the paper she tore with her hands during a domestic argument.No bias here, nope.Finally, the family story of the Dickinsons is only interesting and relevant to the degree that it illuminates and expands meaning in ED's poems, and I think it takes a subtler hand, a slower accretion of detail to accomplish that.

Funny . . . On my visits to the Dickinson homestead
. . . I never once got the impression I was seeing mere replicas of Miss Emily's possessions. On the contrary, the room at the head of the stairs was "full" of her--one could sense her presence!--and we were told by the tour guide that the items of memorabilia were actually things used by her: the narrow bed, the small desk, and, most certainly, that ghostly white dress (her "white election") on the dressmaker's dummy in the corner. I don't know what the reviewer is referring to when he/she complains of Dickinson's artifacts being at Harvard and that the things featuredin this marvelous book are merely copies. I have absolutely no doubt that the things I saw in Miss Dickinson's upstairs room, as well as all other things pointed out in the remainder of the house, bore evidence of her. And the the grounds made one feel as if she'd just lately left them... This book features all these beautifully and hauntingly. I have no reason to so much as suspect that I did not see the artifacts of MissDickinson's life, and I have no doubt but that those are indeed the very things photographed so lovingly in this gorgeous and haunting book. Perusing it is like visiting the Squire Dickinson house in Amherst all over again, even though I'm miles away from it and cannot now go back again. That makes the book all the more worthy of cherishing. Both photographs and essays come together in a lovely evocation of Miss Emily's life.

"Called Back" from Harvard
I've not yet read the essays, but the sleek pictures already lack something by way of authenticity, since most of Emily's things are reposited at Harvard and represented, if at all, by facsimiles in her room at the Homestead.I'm not sure why it should make a difference, but I think it does, and we are that much further from Emily's world when her treasured and accustomed artifacts have proxies in their place.So the pictures are nice, but what, really, are they pictures of? ... Read more

Product Description
Anne Bradstreet, Emily Dickinson, and Adrienne Rich share nationality, gender, and an aesthetic tradition, but each expresses these experiences in the context of her own historical moment.Puritanism imposed stringent demands on Bradstreet, romanticism both inspired and restricted Dickinson, and feminism challenged as well as liberated Rich.Nevertheless, each poet succeeded in forming a personal vision that counters traditional male poetics.Their poetry celebrates daily life, demonstrates their commitment to nurturance rather than dominance, shows their resistance to the control of both their earthly and heavenly fathers, and affirms their experience in a world that has often denied women a voice.

Wendy Martin recreates the textures of these women's lives, showing how they parallel the shifts in the status of American women from private companion to participant in a wider public life.The three portraits examine in detail the life and work of the Puritan wife of a colonial magistrate, the white-robed, reclusive New England seer, and the modern feminist and lesbian activist.Their poetry, Martin argues, tells us much about the evolution of feminist and patriarchal perspectives, from Bradstreet's resigned acceptance of traditional religion, to Dickinson's private rebellion, to Rich's public criticism of traditional masculine culture.Together, these portraits compose the panels of an American triptych.

Beyond the dramatic contrasts between the Puritan and feminist vision, Martin finds striking parallels in form.An ideal of a new world, whether it be the city on the hill or a supportive community of women, inspires both.Like the commonwealth of saints, this concept of a female collectivity, which all three poets embrace, is a profoundly political phenomenon based on a pattern of protest and reform that is deeply rooted in American life.Martin suggests that, through their belief in regeneration and renewal, Bradstreet Dickinson, and Rich are part of a larger political as well as literary tradition.An American Triptych both enhances ourunderstanding of the poets' work as part of the web of American experience and suggests the outlines of an American female poetic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A mustforanyone interested
This book is a must for anyone interested in the 3 title poets.Wendy Martin does an excellent job in her analysis of these great female poets.She provides necessary backgound information along with correlative interpretation and history of the authors' works.This book is not only a informative and helpful tool, but it is an interesting read. ... Read more

Product Description
This valuable resource for Dickinson scholars is based on the Thomas H. Johnson three-volume edition of the letters (published in 1958 and 1965) as well as the 1998 one-volume paperback edition. The primary importance of the concordance pertains to the poetic quality of the letters themselves. As editor of both the poems and the letters, T.H. Johnson recognizes this link when he writes: "the letters both in style and rhythm begin to take on qualities that are so nearly the quality of her poems as on occasion to leave the reader in doubt where the letter leaves off and the poem begins."

The similarities between the letters and the poems makes the typical concordance search for the poetÂ’s thematically significant words and biographical references particularly relevant. Tracing DickinsonÂ’s thoughts through her correspondence complements the ideas within her poetry and thus provides a more comprehensive insight into the poetÂ’s personal and artistic development. The concordance will facilitate an understanding of words or concepts that may be obscure in the poetry by itself. Research into DickinsonÂ’s problematic style, characterized by gaps, disjunctions, and ellipses, will be greatly enhanced.

By listing DickinsonÂ’s words together with their contexts and frequencies, the concordance provides the scholar with the ability to answer confidently questions of a statistical or stylistic nature. Finally, one of the most important functions of this concordance is to provide scholar, student, and general reader alike with endless opportunities to make exciting and unexpected discoveries by way of browsing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Invaluable New Resource!
MacKenzie's concordance provides an invaluable new resource to scholars and serious readers of Emily Dickinson.The reference covers all of the over 1000 surviving letters of the poet from the Johnson 3-volume edition.

Not since the Rosenbaum concordance to the poems which appeared in 1964 has a resource been made available that will garner such prolonged interest and use from scholars.With each entry, MacKenzie provides the year (Johnson's dating when the original letter is undated), the frequency of use, the Johnson volume and letter number, page, and line number.In addition, each entry has a brief context from the original sentence in which it appears.

For a poet about whom so little is known and for whom words were so few and so well chosen, a concordance provides surprising and enlightening insights.With the increased attention paid to the letters in recent scholarship, this reference could not be produced and made available too soon for those involved in Dickinson studies.

An extraordinary achievement, this is a reference with a long shelf life that belongs in any university library collection and in private libraries of those who enjoy the richness of Dickinson's words. ... Read more

Product Description
“Move over Marley. Make room for Carlo (Emily Dickinson's giant Newfoundland). Or Flush (Elizabeth Barrett Browning's golden cocker spaniel). Or, maybe, Keeper (Emily Bronte's intimidating mastiff mix). In self-contained chapters of "Shaggy Muses," the work of each author is viewed intimately within the context of the canine companions who provided love, comfort and inspiration."
- Elizabeth Taylor, Literary Editor, The Chicago Tribune

“With this book, Adams has created a niche that will thrill those who love literature, biography and dogs.”
- Bark Magazine

“Dog lovers and literary groupies alike will adore SHAGGY MUSES.”
-Bookpage

“These concise biographies are affecting and engaging.”
-Kirkus Reviews

“Written with lively, accessible prose, this absorbing, wholly unique book is a must-read for literature- and dog-lovers alike.”
-Booklist

“Lovers of both dogs and classic writers will identify with this sweet, quirky book.”
-Publishers Weekly

“An intimate look into the lives of famous women authors whose lives were more difficult than we would ever have imagined. Their dogs helped them to survive and create their great works of classic English literature. Lovers of literature and all of those interested in the human/animal bond should read this fascinating book.”
— Temple Grandin , author of Animals in Translation

“I so enjoyed SHAGGY MUSES. It manages very successfully to bring into focus exactly why these dogs were important to these writers—an intriguing mixture of providing some with confidence, some with love, some with protection and all of them with a curious sense of identification with another spirit which, sometimes, fuelled their writing. No mean feat.”
— Margaret Forster, author of Elizabeth Barrett Browning: The Life and Loves of a Poet

"Adams, a clinical psychologist, explores the many roles - companions, objects of affection, witnesses, protectors, guides - these dogs played in their owners' lives and their appearances in their work. How charming to visualize delicate Emily Dickinson with amiable Carlo, her Newfoundland, living their lives in Amherst, or Edith Wharton, traveling through Europe with her Pekes." - The Times-Picayune
"Adams, an English professor-turned-clinical-psychologist, shows verve and just the right amount of playfulness. Deftly, she places these furry inspirations into the environments that nurtured and restricted their 19th and 20th century mistresses. The result are five entertaining and insightful minibiographies, exquisite as the 19th century miniature of Barrett Browning and her lapdog Flush included in the text." - The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"These stories - based on diaries, letters and contemporary accounts with several photographs, many told here for the first time - reveal intimate details and new perspectives on these giants of English and American literature, made even more memorable by Adams' lively writing." - The Providence Journal

"Shaggy Muses' is readable and interesting. . .full of facts and insights. Adams goes beyond the superficial and provides real information." - The Oregonian

"Adams writes these concise biographies with intelligence, verve and tenderness, and her background in literature and psychology makes her uniquely qualified. She does not avert her gaze from each of her subject's troubles but rather shows how each became a greater writer partially through unconditional canine friendship and devotion." - Times-Dispatch

“You’ll call this sentimental–perhaps–but then a dog somehow represents the priv... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Delightful and Entertaining Accounts of Woman's Best Friend!
This is a very well-written and researched account of 5 renowned women writers/poets and the dogs who were their faithful companions. I was particularly interested because of Emily Bronte being profiled. Her dog, Keeper, looked so much like my dear Buster -- I always joked that Buster was my version of Keeper...

The biographies of the writers -- Emily Bronte, Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Edith Wharton -- are comprehensive enough to give the reader an insightful overview of the women's lives and the dear roles their beloved dogs played in them. Illustrations and photos of the pets as well as the writers, as available, give a sense of the dog and his or her beloved mistress. Highly recommended--this is a book for dog lovers as well as for fans of the writers portrayed. A fascinating, well-done and inspired read!! What a marvelous book.

Excellent mini-bios plus dog stories
I really enjoyed learning more about these women writers through tales about them and their dogs. All the women led sad yet productive lives.

However, I thought that the Virginia Woolf section was a stretch. Yes, she loved her dogs, but I don't think they really did anything more for her than most people's dogs do. Also, while I admire Woolf and have enjoyed some of her writing, I found her so self-centered and spoiled I had a hard time sympathizing with her problems.

But that's not the author's fault. She did an excellent job and gave me a lot of new insights into the mother-daughter relationship and how the lack of that important relationship affected these women.

Shaggy Muses
Fascinating book especially if you enjoy these authors.Aside from their attachments to their dogs, I loved learning more about their lives.Highly recommend it.

Pet Therapy
Maureen Adams, a psychologist, has written a compelling collection of biographies of 5 female literary giants, not from the perspective of their artistic sensibility or their importance to the world of letters but from their need for, and extraordinary devotion to, their dogs. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Bronte, Emily Dickinson, Edith Wharton, and Virginia Woolf were intellectually gifted women at a time when that was perceived as a liability. Each was raised in an environment where mothers were absent and fathers were aloof and repressive. Each was exposed early to tragedy and loss and, deprived of a nurturing and accepting caregiver, retreated deeply into invalidism and depression. Adams postulates that in every case it was a dog through which each woman learned to love, trust and cope well enough to create an enduring literary legacy.If the premise sounds at all hokey, it's not. The biographies are personal but not anecdotal or trivial. The emphasis is on the psychological gestalt of these women, and the facts are well-researched and frequently fascinating.

Polly Stone's performance is engaging.Her voice is pleasing to the ear, and her tone is sensitive and respectful. A historical time-line concludes each biography.

New look at women authors
This was a very interesting new look at some famous authors. Who would have thought Emily Dickenson would love a huge Newfounland? Or expected Emily Bronte to have been the inspiration for Heathcliffe, not Cathy? I finished the book in short order and enjoyed going back to have another look at the famous authors' works. As an English teacher, this was a most enriching experience, and could lead to something 'other than the same old, same old' discussions with my students. ... Read more

Product Description
In mid-19th-century Amherst, Emily Dickinson is famous both for her notable family and for her reclusive ways, and only Miranda Chase, a smart girl with big plans for her own life, is allowed to enter the budding poet's very private world. At first, their Monday afternoon visits involve discussing books over piping hot cups of tea, but when Miranda begins exploring her own yearnings--for love, for an education, even for a career--she discovers that being a friend of Emily's is not without its dangers. The very charisma that has inspired her becomes a web of intrigue, and to escape it, Miranda will imperil her reputation, her independence, and even her dreams.


Drawing on letters, poems, and everything that is known about Dickinson's life, AFTERNOONS WITH EMILY is a vivid portrait of America's most famous poet, a coming-ofage story that spans the Civil War, and a tale of two brilliant women who each chose to break with convention and live life on their own terms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Afternoons with Emily
This was the best book I've read in ages. It was hard to believe that it was a novel and that Miranda was not a true person. Rose McMurray's first and only novel.Too bad there won't be more.I learned about Emily Dickinson through this novel and it spurred me on to research more.The novel seemed true to historical facts.I enjoyed reading it and now am going to read more poetry.

Absolutely Enchanting
I am an avid reader and writer and do not review books often...but I felt compelled to leave a few words here about this delicious book. What a shame Rose MacMurray did not leave more manuscripts to share! I am awed by her gift to articulate and weave a beautiful story with characters you can relate to and come to truly care about. I even cried! Her choice of words are lush and her descriptions paint a clear and definite picture in your mind - they are one step away from poetry. (At the same time though, know that this was not difficult reading, it just leaves you wanting more!) As I came closer and closer to the end of the book, I was saddened because I didn't want it to end. I know that this is a book I will read over and over again. Thank you Rose! Your writing has inspired me.

A Lovely, Genteel Novel
"Genteel" isn't a word one often hears today.But it describes this very special novel.In its pages, its story, and its compelling characters, there's a quiet dignity which I find tremendously appealing.

I love Emily Dickinson's poetry, and I was fascinated by the idea of a fictional exploration of Emily Dickinson via the coming-of-age story of a friend, Miranda Chase.

I enjoyed the parallel drawn between the two friends:Miranda, who starts out life as a lonely child and who, as she grows up, increasingly pushes herself out into the world to work for the good of others, and Emily, daughter of a prominent Amherst family, who becomes more and more reclusive in order to hone a laser focus on her work:her poetry, which she hopes will win immortality.Miranda and Emily are dissimilar in their personalities, but each, at her core, is an unconventional woman for her time, and that is the glue that bonds them together in friendship.

The novel is beautifully written, its story lovingly told, and Rose MacMurray's children have given readers everywhere a gift by ensuring that Afternoons With Emily got into print.It's a delight, and I highly recommend it.But be sure and take your time with it.This is a novel which is meant to be savored page-by-page, not raced through at breakneck speed.

It's an OK read.
This review contains slight spoilers.

"Afternoons With Emily" (AWE) tells the story of a girl in mid 19th century New England, who has a rather isolated childhood, is educated by a couple tutors who inspire her to be independent and academic, is "befriended" by Emily Dickinson, and goes on to live happily-ever-after with her career and beau.

I'm usually reading up to 10 books concurrently and a gauge of my interest is how long a book languishes at the bottom of the stack.This languished for a long time after I had read nearly 1/3, but I did pick it back up and finish it.It was an OK read, but I'm not nearly as enthusiastic as the other reviewers here.

The main problem with AWE is its predictability.No turn ever surprised me; indeed, the author too often foreshadowed critical events ruining any drama there might have been. The reader never has any doubt that bad events will be overcome and that goodness will triumph; this detracts from the book significantly.

What detracted as much was the utter perfection of Miranda, the protagonist of the story.Gawd: she's a genius, she's beautiful, she's rich, men swoon at her, everyone loves her, she's prescient, every thing she touches turns to gold; I'm surprised she didn't walk on water.The novel is told in the first person and her oh-so-perfect observations on everything and everyone became cloying.

That's the bad.The good is that I thought the author did a good job at recreating the world of mid 19th C. America and the town of Amherst, MA. She has considerable descriptive talent; this is what I found most enjoyable about the book.The subplot of Miranda's interaction with Emily Dickinson is an interesting device and does help anchor the book in time, though this is merely a subplot.She portrays Emily as an extreme agoraphobe (likely true) and ultimately an unlikeable neurotic.Emily is the most interesting character in the book because of her faults, other than Emily it seems like everyone else Miranda meets has a heart of gold - which adds to the utter predictability of AWE.Perhaps Emily is written too far to the other extreme, she is completely self-possessed and is bereft of good traits.An interesting treatment, nonetheless, of a very odd character.

I'm unsure how much I accept the apparent transposition of 20th century feminism into the 19th century world, but I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt on that call.I'm not sure that Miranda would have been allowed the academic or business successes she achieves, but I'll buy into it for the story's sake.The concept of universal education germinated around this time, so Miranda's involvement in that is credible.

In the end, I don't regret reading this.It had some interesting characteristics and I enjoyed the writing, but overall, the plot weaknesses make AWEa predictable, saccharine, unengaging read.

An Enchanting Book
I will admit that I approached this book with a bias. I was very lucky to attend the weekly poetry class Rose MacMurray taught at my elementary school about twenty years ago. She was an amazing and inspiring teacher who managed to reserve praise while still encouraging her students. When she told you something was good, you knew she meant it. The class was so influential and memorable that when I found a beatup copy of the poetry collection we used, I immediately bought it and paid a small fortune to have it rebound. The postcard Mrs. MacMurray sent me from Greece the year after my family moved and I was no longer her student is still one of my prized possessions.

I was devastated to hear that Mrs. MacMurray had died, but excited to learn that she had published a novel. I approached "Afternoons with Emily" with high hopes. Happily, my expectations were met.

As I read this book, I was struck both by the lyrical descriptions and by the pace. This is a slow-paced book, especially when compared to the zippy prose on the internet. Don't misunderstand, "slow-paced" is not boring. Mrs. MacMurray's writing reminds me of Jane Austin's -- there is a gentleness and no rush to describe characters or push through the plot. Instead, the book blooms slowly, completely and beautifully.

Mrs. MacMurray's love of Dickinson's poetry is evident, but she does not overidealize the poet. Dickinson is portrayed as a real person with flaws and weaknesses.

I loved this book, and I think I would have even if I did not love the author. This is a novel to think about and enjoy. If you prefer to rush through series books just to discover the ending, "Afternoons with Emily" is not for you. If you have read "Emma" a hundred times and still find phrases that fascinate you, you won't want to miss this one. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

My Favorite of Them All
My husband and I have been Dickinson fans for most of our lives, so we've read many biographies.This one, by far, is a favorite because of the intimacy and humanity it brings out.Emily Dickinson is somewhat of an enigma, but we get the feeling from this version of her life of the woman she was, in the time that she lived.A particular passage dealt with the death of her beloved nephew, Gilbert.She wrote of his "sweet velocity", and broke our hearts.This is a book that I first borrowed from a library, but which I later searched out through book dealers, to possess it for my own.I value it over all others on the subject. ... Read more

Product Description
Unpublished in her lifetime, Emily Dickinson's, intensely personal lyrics have been much admired and very influential since. ... Read more

Product Description
For most of her life Emily Dickinson regularly embedded poems, disguised as prose, in her lively and thoughtful letters. Although many critics have commented on the poetic quality of Dickinson's letters, William Shurr is the first to draw fully developed poems from them. In this remarkable volume, he presents nearly 500 new poems that he and his associates excavated from her correspondence, thereby expanding the canon of Dickinson's known poems by almost one-third and making a remarkable addition to the study of American literature.

Here are new riddles and epigrams, as well as longer lyrics that have never been seen as poems before. While Shurr has reformatted passages from the letters as poetry, a practice Dickinson herself occasionally followed, no words, punctuation, or spellings have been changed. Shurr points out that these new verses have much in common with Dickinson's well-known poems: they have her typical punctuation (especially the characteristic dashes and capitalizations); they use her preferred hymn or ballad meters; and they continue her search for new and unusual rhymes. Most of all, these poems continue Dickinson's remarkable experiments in extending the boundaries of poetry and human sensibility. ... Read more

Product Description
This series presents complete poems and generous excerpts from longer works. Each book includes a biographical and critical introduction, a commentary and notes on the poems. ... Read more

Product Description
Because I could not stop for Death-
He kindly stopped for me-
The carriage held but just ourselves-
And Immortality.

Bloomsbury Poetry Classics are selections from the work of some of our greatest poets. The series is aimed at the general reader rather than the specialist and carries no critical or explanatory apparatus. This can be found elsewhere. In the series the poems introduce themselves, on an uncluttered page and in a format that is both attractive and convenient. The selections have been made by the distinguished poet, critic, and biographer Ian Hamilton.
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Customer Reviews (4)

Beautiful poetry
If you like poetry that makes you stop and think, or really hits home for you, I'd recommend this book. The book jacket was sort of creepy because it had a picture of her. Anyway, I know I'll be reading this book again and again! :)

I love to see it lap the miles/ and lick the valleys up
One of the true originals. One of the great poets who seem to invent a language, a world of metaphor of her own. A delight in her difficulty and a deep pleasure in her sombre tunes.

"Exultation is the going of an inland soul to sea/ Past the headlands , past the houses / into deep Eternity. "

Hidden meaning and insight in every poem.............
I love poetry but had not read many if any of emily dickinson so I picked this up to read in my spare time.At first glance the book and poems seemed so simple and easy to read.I thought it would be a small little delight to read her short poems while waiting in the car, or at the bank, in line at the grocier, but as I embarked on a stolen moment with the poems of emily dickinson you discover her poems are hardly simple.

Every poem seems has more than one meaning. You can truely see how complicated this simple woman must have been even in her observations.

I have been delighted by her insight and each poem makes me wonder of the woman who wrote them. A lovely read.

A prism which captures the white light of reality
Just as a prism breaks up light into a band of colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet - and their infinite gradations, so do Emily Dickinson's poems become, as it were, a prism which captures the white light of reality, a reality which as it flows through the prism of her poem explodes into a multiplicity of meanings.

It is the rich suggestiveness of her poems, a suggestiveness which generates an incredible range of meanings, that prevents us from ever being able to say (to continue the metaphor) that a given poem is 'about red' or 'about blue,' because her poems, as US critic Robert Weisbuch has observed, are in fact about _everything_. This is what makes her so unique, and this is why she appeals to every kind of reader (or certainly to open-minded ones) and even to children.

Emily Dickinson's poetry is one of the wonders of the world. ... Read more