Robert Lowell, Setting the River on Fire: A Study of Genius, Mania, and Character Kindle Edition

After reading this finely nuanced and deeply moving study of Lowell, I picked up Ian Hamilton's biography, written just a few years after Lowell's death in 1977. It is an unremitting hatchet job, a shallow, 474-page gossip column of malicious rancor. Jamison, a psychiatrist, has herself battled manic-depressive illness. She hardly lets Lowell off the hook for the damage and pain he inflicted on himself and others during his manic phases. However, with the deep insight of one who has experienced the same hell Lowell entered over and over during the decades of his life, Jamison sets both Lowell's life and his art within the context of the demons he battled with great courage and resilience.But Hamilton presents Lowell in one dimension. In Hamilton's portrayal, Lowell is an unredeemed jerk, an arrogant buffoon. And Hamilton finds mediocre the work of a man nearly universally regarded as one of the towering giants of 20th Century poetry.Hamilton's treatment of Lowell is so one-sided that after a couple of hundred pages I simply began to skim through the book, confident by then that I would find no shred of even-handedness in the man's account. But I did read the last page, where I was astonished to learn that Hamilton "was privileged" to speak at Lowell's New York memorial service. What a hypocrite!Jamison does redeem Lowell, both from Hamilton's book and from the grief and suffering that Lowell both caused and endured. Her work reveals to us this deeply complex, deeply tortured, uniquely gifted man in full. Lowell's life and art have finally found the biographer they deserve.

I didn't rush to get this book. I've read Mariani's biography of Lowell many times, as well as biographies of his first and third wife, and I eagerly await a bio of the second Mrs. Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Hardwick. Yet, with the poet's daughter Harriet Lowell making new information available to this author, I finally had to see what this book had to offer.The author makes it clear that this book is NOT a biography. Is it a bit repetitive? Sure -- and I skimmed over the Lowell family history and the minutiae regarding bipolar illness in general. What blew me away was her summary of his work at every stage. I didn't particularly notice any annoying psychobabble but instead appreciated her placing of the poetry within the context of his life -- including his spiritual life, which is not ignored. This is the first writer, to my knowledge, who has made the High Church Anglican influence on Lowell's work (and, of course, his funeral) crystal clear.But the best part, for me, was the new understanding of Lowell's relationship with the amazing Hardwick and of Lowell as a father. For the first time, I began to understand why Hardwick stayed with Lowell despite his mental illness and why she "took him back" after his shameful desertion and the breakup of his third marriage. His daughter's assessment of him as a good father, despite everything, is echoed by the stepdaughters from his third marriage. The author's effort to pull together this new information will make this book a good companion to a biography of Elizabeth Hardwick when it appears.

A well written book that dives into Lowell's medical history and give the reader a sympathetic presentation of his life. Trully enjoyable and has given me reason to re-read his poetry with renewed enthusiasm!

The accomplished Dr. Jamison, whose life has been spent contending with her own manic depression as well as treating patients and teaching psychologists, paints, with her usual fluid prose, a compelling portrait of Lowell and the manner in which the same illness was woven through his life and art. Masterful.

Coming to the end of a book that is more than a biography. It is a reliving of the poet's creative process in and through a horribly turbulent life, with the worst kind of pain giving birth to his art—more painful than going through a war—because the battlefield is in his heart and mind and worse in a sensitive conscience. It read swiftly a first and then, though the writing stayed lucid and fluid, it was a struggle going through the poet's ordeal and the ordeal he inflicted on his loved ones however compelling the prose. Exhausting yet exhilarating. Will never forget this.

How Kay Redfield Jamison described what Robert Lowell's life was like as he battled manic depression is heartbreaking, but the strength of his character to get through his life as well as he did along with excerpts of his poetry. is absolutely inspirational. He had to live with the constant fear of having another attack and they started happening once, or twice a year. Also he lived with the fear that each manic atack might be destroying his ability to write poetry, the main thing he wanted to do in his life.

The author looked at the impact of mental health. Mania was a taboo subject and not discussed by even those afflicted or affected by the condition. Lowell was able to live and work outside a psychiatric ward because of his wealth and celebrity. His care could not have been easy for those who were immediately caring for him. Codependent women was the norm. The stigma of mental health issues continues while family remain helplessly codependent.

Exhaustive account of the life of a genius who was beset by bipolar illness. The power of the book is that it really gives the reader a feeling for the disease and how it can destroy one's life along with altering the lives of those around him/her.

Erudite without underlining; brilliant while being accessible and clear; utterly absorbing for anyone interested in Lowell, and essential if you are - like me - convinced he was THE great writer of poetry of our time. I know, 'our time' is a flexible construct, but to me, it is from the day in 1959 when I first read Lowell, to today, as I re-read him. Kay Redfield Jamison commands my complete respect and gratitude. This is the greatest book on its subject.

Robert Lowell struggled with bipolar disorder almost all his life. It might have added to the quality of his work but it took a toll on his personal life. A great read if you want to know about this great poet’s bouts with madness. It’s a biography but reads almost poetically.

An amazing look at an amazing man.

Excellent insight into the creative process and dealing with mental health issues.