From the early 1900's to her death in 1950, Edna St. Vincent Millay was one of the most successful and respected poets in America. In 1923 she became the first woman ever to win the Pulitzer Prize. Not unlike some of today's public figures, such as Madonna, Millay was a major celebrity in every sense of the word. Crowds flocked to her poetry readings and made her books of poetry and verse perennial best sellers. Young women modeled themselves to look like Millay, adopting her style of dress and hair. Her charisma was such that her personal appearances were not just simply poetry readings, they were performances. Richard Sewell, biographer of Emily Dickinson, remembered seeing Millay at Yale University in 1934 and her reading "with the zeal of a young Jeremiah, her words burning the air."

Nancy Milford's Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St.Vincent Millay skillfully weaves Millay's public and private life into a compelling biography. Describing her as the herald of the new woman, Milford writes how Millay, through her writings and public behavior, not only flaunted the social mores that were imposed on women of her day but helped to break them down. Through her poetry she expressed her sexuality with a daring and wit that mesmerized audiences. And, Millay wasn't afraid to get herself involved politically. In 1927, she was at the forefront in supporting Sacco and Vanzetti as well as an outspoken opponent of Fascism. Savage Beauty chronicles these events as well some of the darker aspects of Millay's life, such as her addiction to morphine.

Writer Toni Morrison has called Savage Beauty a "keenly perceptive life of Edna St. Vincent Millay" while historian Blanche Wiesen Cook has described Millay as the "lyrical poet whose defiant individuality so defined American Culture at mid-century."

Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St.Vincent Millay can be found on the second floor of the Library at Call# PS 3525.I495 Z72.