The Waste Land: A Biography of a Poem

Description

The Waste Land is said to be the greatest poem of the age. It is thought to describe the moral decay of a world after war, sexuality and rebirth; it has been called the most truthful poem of the times, it has been labelled a masterful fake. But a century after its publication in 1922, T. S. Eliot's masterpiece remains a work of comparative mystery. In this gripping account, award-winning biographer Matthew Hollis reconstructs the making of the poem and brings its times vividly to life. He tells the story of the cultural and personal trauma that forged the poem through the interleaved lives of its protagonists - of Ezra Pound, who edited it, of Vivien Eliot, who endured it, and of T. S. Eliot himself whose private torment is woven into the fabric of the work. The result is an unforgettable story of lives passing in opposing directions: Eliot's into redemptive stardom, Vivien's into despair, Pound's into unforgiving darkness.

Matthew Hollis was born in Norwich in 1971. Ground Water was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, the Whitbread Prize for Poetry and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. He is co-editor of Strong Words: Modern Poets on Modern Poetry and 101 Poems Against War, and editor of Selected Poems of Edward Thomas. Now All Roads Lead to France: the Last Years of Edward Thomas won the Costa Biography Award and the H. W. Fisher Biography Prize, was Radio 4 Book of the Week and Sunday Times Biography of the Year. His long poem Leaves is published by Hazel Press; a new collection of poetry, Earth House, is forthcoming.