One Art

“These letters, funny, touching, and occasionally harrowing, remind us that this great poet was a remarkable woman as well. Don't miss them.” ―Michael Dirda, The Washington Post Book World

Robert Lowell once remarked, “When Elizabeth Bishop's letters are published (as they will be), she will be recognized as not only one of the best, but one of the most prolific writers of our century.” One Art is the magnificent confirmation of Lowell's prediction.

From several thousand letters, written by Bishop over fifty years—from 1928, when she was seventeen, to the day of her death, in Boston in 1979—Robert Giroux, the poet's longtime friend and editor, has selected over five hundred missives for this volume. In a way, the letters comprise Bishop's autobiography, and Giroux has greatly enhanced them with his own detailed, candid, and highly informative introduction. One Art takes us behind Bishop's formal sophistication and reserve, fully displaying the gift for friendship, the striving for perfection, and the passionate, questing, rigorous spirit that made her a great artist.

“A remarkable collection . . . True magic.” ―Richard Locke, The Wall Street Journal

“One Art does not quite substitute for an autobiography; there are too many important facts missing. Instead, it stands as a sort of golden treasury, to be gone through in one enthralled reading and then browsed in ever after.” ―J. D. McClatchy, The New York Times Book Review

“The publication of Elizabeth Bishop's selected letters is a historic event . . . Let us celebrate the appearance of this extraordinary, this quite exceptional and wonderful work.” ―Tom Paulin, The Times Literary Supplement