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spaffrackett's review against another edition
4.0
I am unsure just what Mr. Wolff thought of Harry Crosby and that is, to me, an essential component of this fine book.
flexluthor's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
I don't read much non fiction but I do love a book about a fucked up addict regardless of genre. This book told a fascinating story of the world in the interwar period of the 20th century. Harry Crosby was something of a hanger-on to the Western canon scene in Paris in the 30s. He hung out with James Joyce, Hemingway, Edith Wharton, so many famous people, and reading about their culture was awesome. It's an interesting portrait of the scars war leaves on those who see it. The entire time reading it I just kept thinking about how insane it would be to experience the worst event in human history (at that point WWI) and then come home and just have to go back to regular life. Unfathomable.
staticdisplay's review against another edition
4.0
the biography of Harry Crosby, brought up in a wealthy, conventional Boston family. after WWI, he is unable to attend to his family's expectations and instead spends the remainder of his life gadding about in France, attempting to make a literary splash while also becoming increasingly esoteric and detached from life. the story draws on a lot of correspondence and contemporary accounts, but the clearest picture is of pre-war Harry, a youth in Boston. the narrative becomes non-linear for the second half, Harry's adult life. the text gave me a better picture of time and place (Boston and Harvard in the early 1900s; WWI; the American artist/writer community in Paris in the 20s), which was fascinating and a good read, than conveying who Harry was and what it was like to be in a room with him or why his life turned into what it did.
I don't know what I was looking for; more analysis? the author writes about the role of the biographer in the afterword and whether authorial subjectivity is relevant or appropriate in this kind of work. as for my efforts to understand Harry, he's surrounded by people who probably wanted his money, he easily picks up a variety of women, he "tests" his romantic partners, seeking the one who will die with him. constant drug use (opium, alcohol)... there are clearly heavy mental health issues at work here, and the narrative does touch on PTSD ("shell shock") but it's not the focus or lens. his drug use, antisocial behavior (not the nail painting, but crashing cars when driving drunk and the suggestion of violence with his partners, that kind of thing), dalliances with very young [underage] girls - all seemingly with impunity, perhaps because of his great wealth. I didn't like him, but I did feel sorry for all of the people involved. I got a sense that he was charismatic and probably compelling in person albeit not as much in his writings, which is what remains. Caresse seems to have been along for a ride she wasn't entirely prepared to handle; his parents seem to really care about Harry but not know how to care for him or set boundaries, which he was sorely lacking, and Harry himself seems entirely lost and committed to the activities that rob his life of meaning, as if there would ever be "enough" drugs and ephemeral relationships to make him feel alive. there's a sense that contemporaries found his sun worship affected and maudlin. "Rotch" is a most unfortunate name.
what else? the non-linear narrative is not entirely effective; we get an explanation of his relationship with D. H. Lawrence (quite good, then it sours), but then it's never clear what stage they're at whenever DHL is mentioned (as one example). I think it would have made more sense to maintain the forward motion through time rather than presenting chapters based on themes that overlap and entangle.
I don't know what I was looking for; more analysis? the author writes about the role of the biographer in the afterword and whether authorial subjectivity is relevant or appropriate in this kind of work. as for my efforts to understand Harry, he's surrounded by people who probably wanted his money, he easily picks up a variety of women, he "tests" his romantic partners, seeking the one who will die with him. constant drug use (opium, alcohol)... there are clearly heavy mental health issues at work here, and the narrative does touch on PTSD ("shell shock") but it's not the focus or lens. his drug use, antisocial behavior (not the nail painting, but crashing cars when driving drunk and the suggestion of violence with his partners, that kind of thing), dalliances with very young [underage] girls - all seemingly with impunity, perhaps because of his great wealth. I didn't like him, but I did feel sorry for all of the people involved. I got a sense that he was charismatic and probably compelling in person albeit not as much in his writings, which is what remains. Caresse seems to have been along for a ride she wasn't entirely prepared to handle; his parents seem to really care about Harry but not know how to care for him or set boundaries, which he was sorely lacking, and Harry himself seems entirely lost and committed to the activities that rob his life of meaning, as if there would ever be "enough" drugs and ephemeral relationships to make him feel alive. there's a sense that contemporaries found his sun worship affected and maudlin. "Rotch" is a most unfortunate name.
what else? the non-linear narrative is not entirely effective; we get an explanation of his relationship with D. H. Lawrence (quite good, then it sours), but then it's never clear what stage they're at whenever DHL is mentioned (as one example). I think it would have made more sense to maintain the forward motion through time rather than presenting chapters based on themes that overlap and entangle.
lola425's review against another edition
3.0
Whew! That Harry and Caresse Crosby were something. Scandalous even by our modern standards.
Recommended for those who like real life scandal.
Recommended for those who like real life scandal.
cynthiabemisabrams's review against another edition
3.0
Very well written and researched book that at times went deeply into literary intepretation, analysis and criticism. Descriptions of the time - Roaring 20s - is as good as it gets.
markfeltskog's review against another edition
A fascinating topic from the pen of a superlative nonfiction stylist; highly recommended if you're interested in a representative figure of the expatriate community in 1920s Paris.
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