EZRA AND DOROTHY POUND: Letters in Captivity, 1945-1946

Description: A TRAGIC AND MISGUIDED GIANT OF 20TH CENTURY LITERATURE POET EZRA POUND WAS A MAJOR FIGURE IN THE MODERNIST LITERARY MOVEMENT and a huge influence on the development of writers such as T.S.Eliot, James Joyce, and Ernest Hemingway. He won important literary awards and was admired by many of his fellow writers. He inspired them and his readers with statements like: "The book should be a ball of light in one's hand." Much of his own work did glow like balls of light. But Ezra Pound was also a notorious anti-semite and fascism supporter, an admirer of Hitler. He was charged by his native country - the United States - with treason and incarcerated for years in a psychiatric asylum in Washington DC. He died in Venice in 1972. His troubles began with his disillusionment with England after World War I when he felt that the conflict had been brought about by greed. He supported the growth of fascism in the Third Reich and Italy and during World War II broadcast pro-fascist and antisemitic propaganda from Italy, resulting in his arrest by the Americans after the war for treason. He was placed for about three weeks under harsh conditions in a kind of open cage and this experience is said to have contributed to his mental breakdown after which he was moved to a tent in a medical compound. During this time and later during his confinement at the asylum, he corresponded with his wife Dorothy and others and this book takes us, through many of the letters, into the mind and the thinking of one of the strangest but innovative and compelling literary giants of the 20th Century. The book we offer is in good condition, its starkly designed dust-jacket protected by a removable Brodart plastic wrap. It has been read, but quite gently, and there are no page markings, underlines, highlights, margin notes or signs of previous ownership such as an inscription of bookplate. The binding is firm and square. There are numerous black-and-white photographs to illustrate Ezra Pound's tragic life story, among them the photograph (shown above) of Pound after his arrest. He was anxious to keep this picture away from the Press. The editors of the book are Omar Pound, a translator of Persian and Arabic poetry, and Robert Spoo, an English professor. There is an index and a useful bibliography of related published works. ++ All books sold by Mackie Books are packaged in bubble-wrap to guard against damage from accidental bumping during shipping. + Click here to see other listings by Mackie Books on eBay, including American and world classics, and numerous fine books on historical subjects. + We ship internationally through eBay's Global Shipping Program. + All the pictures we post with our eBay listing are from the actual books being sold and are not stock pictures. + We like to get books to you in the condition described above. This means careful packaging - our specialty. + We use recycled material for packaging whenever possible - and we ask our friends to do this too!

Price: 14.95 USD

Location: Sausalito, California

End Time: 2025-02-03T08:00:26.000Z

Shipping Cost: 3.68 USD