The Waste Land: A Biography of a Poem

The Waste Land is said to be the greatest poem of the age. It is thought to describe the moral decay of a world after war, sexuality and rebirth; it has been called the most truthful poem of the times, it has been labelled a masterful fake. But a century after its publication in 1922, T. S. Eliot's masterpiece remains a work of comparative mystery. In this gripping account, award-winning biographer Matthew Hollis reconstructs the making of the poem and brings its times vividly to life. He tells the story of the cultural and personal trauma that forged the poem through the interleaved lives of its protagonists - of Ezra Pound, who edited it, of Vivien Eliot, who endured it, and of T. S. Eliot himself whose private torment is woven into the fabric of the work. The result is an unforgettable story of lives passing in opposing directions: Eliot's into redemptive stardom, Vivien's into despair, Pound's into unforgiving darkness.