In Extremis : The life of Laura Riding by BAKER, Deborah - 1993

London: Hamish Hamilton. Near Fine in Near Fine dust wrapper. 1993. First British Edition. Hardcover. ISBN: 024112834X. B&W Photographs; 478 pages; A lovely copy. Spine head faintly bumped, page edges pale yellow. Unclipped dust wrapper faintly creased at top edge.; The author draws heavily on unpublished works for this 'first major biography of one of the most provocative, prolific, and influential figures in British-American literary history. In her poetry, fiction, essays, and public statements, Laura Riding, the author of twenty-three books, tackled feminism, communism, sexuality, Freud, language and belief, and the coming-of-age of the American dream. In her personal relationships she was often at the center of a circle of friends and artists whose activities she inspired and sometimes controlled. Her extraordinary range of associates included writers as diverse as Hart Crane, Gertrude Stein, Edmund Wilson, Malcolm Cowley, Allen Tate, and Robert Penn Warren. During a long and "scandalous" affair with Robert Graves, she watched over his most productive period and guided much of his best work. Together they launched the New Criticism.'. Catalogs: Biography. Keywords: Poet, Novelist, Robert Graves, New Criticism, American Author.