Sylvia Plath Reads

" . . . a young woman who . . . rose from the dead to become, in ten driven years, the best - the most exciting and influential, the most ruthlessly original poet of her generation." -- John Updike

Of the many American poets who reached her zenith in the last few decades, perhaps none looms so large as the legendary Sylvia Plath. Consummately crafted, Plath's poetry is stormy but luminous, sharp but poignant. This unique, compelling and intriguing recording has been heralded as "a significant tribute to and record of the lyric art that Sylvia Plath left to the literary heritage of America." (Booklist)

Contents:

The Ghost's Leavetaking

November Graveyard

On the Plethora of Dryads

The Moon Was a Fat Woman Once

Nocturne

Child's Park Stones

The Earthenware Head

On the Difficulty of Conjuring up a Dryad

Green Rock--Winthrop Bay

On the Decline of Oracles

The Goring

Ouija

The Beggars of Benidorm Market

Sculptor

The Disquieting Muses

Spinster

Parliament Hill Fields

The Stones

Candles

Mushrooms

Berck-plage

The Surgeon at 2 A.M.

The charged imagery of Sylvia Plath's carefully crafted poetry strikes even deeper when heard from the voice of the author. Remastered using contemporary digital technology, these historic recordings were made between 1958 and 1962, when Plath was at the height of her tragically shortened career. They capture the striking clarity of her writing and the studied pronunciations of her voice, while illuminating her subtle, yet profoundly moving vocal inflections. Plath carries the listener into a dreamscape that mixes memories of beautiful lightness with the secret pain of dark and disturbing insight. (Running time: 50 minutes, 1 cassette) --George Laney