Published in March 2015 issue of Prospect Magazine
Young Eliot: From St Louis to The Waste Land by Robert Crawford (Jonathan Cape, £25)
TS Eliot didn’t want anyone to write his biography, and for a long time his widow Valerie Eliot (who died in 2012) made life difficult for anyone trying to do so. Fifty years after his death, though, Robert Crawford—himself a fine poet—has produced a biography of Eliot up to 1922 that, unlike previous attempts, can freely quote from the works and letters. Taking full advantage, Crawford packs his sentences with the author’s own words, offering a careful account of Eliot that wisely avoids one overarching explanation for his genius.
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