NEW BIOGRAPHY!

[Cath]

Friends, I have good news!

Nicholas Roe is publishing a *new* biography of our poet in November this year. It's to be called "John Keats: A New Life" and will be published by Yale University Press:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Keats-A-New-Life/dp/0300124651/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335687539&sr=1-1

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This landmark biography of celebrated Romantic poet John Keats explodes entrenched conceptions of him as a delicate, overly sensitive, tragic figure. Instead, Nicholas Roe reveals the real flesh-and-blood poet: a passionate man driven by ambition but prey to doubt, suspicion and jealousy; sure of his vocation while bitterly resentful of the obstacles that blighted his career; devoured by sexual desire and frustration; and in thrall to alcohol and opium. Through unparalleled original research, Roe arrives at a fascinating reassessment of Keats's entire life, from his early years at Keats's Livery Stables through his harrowing battle with tuberculosis and death at age twenty-five. Focusing on crucial turning points, Roe finds in the locations of Keats's poems new keys to the nature of his imaginative quest. Roe is the first biographer to provide a full and fresh account of Keats's childhood in the City of London and how it shaped the would-be poet. The mysterious early death of Keats's father, his mother's too-swift remarriage, living in the shadow of the notorious madhouse Bedlam all these affected Keats far more than has been previously understood. The author also sheds light on Keats's doomed passion for Fanny Brawne, his circle of brilliant friends, hitherto unknown City relatives, and much more. Filled with revelations and daring to ask new questions, this book now stands as the definitive volume on one of the most beloved poets of the English language. (384 pages)

About the Author
Nicholas Roe is professor of English, University of St. Andrews. He is the author of numerous biographical and critical works on writers of the Romantic period. He lives in Scotland.
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Roe is, we remember, also the author of John Keats: The Culture of Dissent (1997) and Fiery Heart: The First Life of Leigh Hunt (2005).

I'm very excited about this!

[Saturn]

Sounds great, and hopefully yet another nail in the coffin of the Victorian, wispy, delicate flower version of Keats that has held the imagination of many for far too long. A most welcome biography by a great writer; looking forward to reading it!

[Cybele]

This sounds great, Cath. I enjoyed "The Culture of Dissent" and its slightly different take on influences on the poetry. (I was especially interested in the influence of the Hunt brothers' publications.)

[Ennis]

Friends, I have good news!

Nicholas Roe is publishing a *new* biography of our poet in November this year. It's to be called "John Keats: A New Life" and will be published by Yale University Press:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Keats-A-New-Life/dp/0300124651/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335687539&sr=1-1

*******************
This landmark biography of celebrated Romantic poet John Keats explodes entrenched conceptions of him as a delicate, overly sensitive, tragic figure. Instead, Nicholas Roe reveals the real flesh-and-blood poet: a passionate man driven by ambition but prey to doubt, suspicion and jealousy; sure of his vocation while bitterly resentful of the obstacles that blighted his career; devoured by sexual desire and frustration; and in thrall to alcohol and opium. Through unparalleled original research, Roe arrives at a fascinating reassessment of Keats's entire life, from his early years at Keats's Livery Stables through his harrowing battle with tuberculosis and death at age twenty-five. Focusing on crucial turning points, Roe finds in the locations of Keats's poems new keys to the nature of his imaginative quest. Roe is the first biographer to provide a full and fresh account of Keats's childhood in the City of London and how it shaped the would-be poet. The mysterious early death of Keats's father, his mother's too-swift remarriage, living in the shadow of the notorious madhouse Bedlam all these affected Keats far more than has been previously understood. The author also sheds light on Keats's doomed passion for Fanny Brawne, his circle of brilliant friends, hitherto unknown City relatives, and much more. Filled with revelations and daring to ask new questions, this book now stands as the definitive volume on one of the most beloved poets of the English language. (384 pages)

About the Author
Nicholas Roe is professor of English, University of St. Andrews. He is the author of numerous biographical and critical works on writers of the Romantic period. He lives in Scotland.
*******************

Roe is, we remember, also the author of John Keats: The Culture of Dissent (1997) and Fiery Heart: The First Life of Leigh Hunt (2005).

I'm very excited about this!

I've been meaning to thank you for the heads up, Cath, since you first posted the infomation! I went to the Barnes and Noble site and preordered it that same day. The cost was $19.95, and since I'm a member of B&N, I don't have to pay the shipping, which is just about as much as the book (and the book is hardback)! Shame! Shame! The booksellers won't extract the money from my debit card until the book is shipped from their warehouse on the 13th of November (which is good, financially, for me), baring any unforeseen circumstances! (hey, that's only 7 days prior to Tom's 18th of November birthday!). I don't believe I can bear the five-and-a-half months' wait. Oh, well, it'll give me something to look forward to (and something Keats-related to read that I haven't read yet [books I have access to. I don't want to imply I've read everything remotely related to Keats!]). In response to a former post by Saturn: yeah, some of us would buy something just because Keats's name is on it!! At least, Nicholas Roe is a well-respected Keats scholar, judging by what the more well-read (than me) posters have written. I've only (partially) read his Fiery Heart; I keep putting it down and picking it back up. One day, I'll finish it. I've also read (on-line) some articles Roe has written. Back to Saturn's (tongue-in-cheek) comment (At least, I hope it was tongue-and-cheek . . . ! ), the one item I won't buy is that six-feet tall (I think) standable cut-out of Keats offered by some . . . person (for $60.00) on e-bay. Keats has (pardon, Saturn:) Severn's god-awful face (the one of Keats he painted, not his own! ), but whoever made him needs to research Regency fashion: he's wearing knee breeches, not "pantaloons"! Check it out, if you haven't seen it, if it's still offered for sale. Surely no one would purchase it! Not even me!! If you look for it, you'll probably need to do some scrolling; it was many pages "down" the last time I browsed e-bay (yes, Saturn, my Keats friend,:) for Keatsian stuff.

[BrokenLyre]

How am I ever going to find time to read another biography? I'll wait and see. Thanks for the heads up.
I still need to read Denise Gigante's The Keats Brothers which is on my shelf!

[Ennis]

It's interesting to note, that the Barnes and Noble site has a picture of the book, and it has the same cover illustration on it that Andrew Motion's biography has. You know, the idealized one painted posthumously by the ever optimistic Severn of Keats sitting in the woods, probably somewhere on the Heath (when we all know it was in Brown's yard!), listening (or rather "zoned-out"!) to the song of a nightingale.

[Cath]

Yes, the cover showing on Barnes and Noble is the same as for Amazon. In the UK, Andrew Motion's biography had a different cover (the 1819 portrait by Severn) so I thought Nicholas Roe and his publishers were going for the 1845 portrait on the "Heath" to distinguish it from Motion's Life.

I am also extremely looking forward to this biography, Ennis!! I just hope that Roe, having already written a book on dissent & politics with regard to Keats, doesn't go down the route of (over-)emphasizing the political aspect in his bio as Motion did. We'll see! The publication date in the UK has been moved forward to October 31st - Keats's 217th birthday, no less! - if Amazon is to be believed (it frequently isn't when it comes to publication dates, but I thought I'd get excited anyway ).

[Ennis]

Yes, the cover showing on Barnes and Noble is the same as for Amazon. In the UK, Andrew Motion's biography had a different cover (the 1819 portrait by Severn) so I thought Nicholas Roe and his publishers were going for the 1845 portrait on the "Heath" to distinguish it from Motion's Life.

I am also extremely looking forward to this biography, Ennis!! I just hope that Roe, having already written a book on dissent & politics with regard to Keats, doesn't go down the route of (over-)emphasizing the political aspect in his bio as Motion did. We'll see! The publication date in the UK has been moved forward to October 31st - Keats's 217th birthday, no less! - if Amazon is to be believed (it frequently isn't when it comes to publication dates, but I thought I'd get excited anyway ).

Cath,
I did read somewhere not long after Motion's biography came out (I probably read it on the flyleaf of the cover!!), that one agenda Motion wanted to accomplish was to put Keats's life in the hisorical perspective of the time, which would obviously take into consideration political "stuff" of his time. Shoot. I can get that in any history of England; I just want a biography that deals with apects of Keats's life the other biographers hadn't dwelt that much on in detail. Don' t you??

[Raphael]

Instead, Nicholas Roe reveals the real flesh-and-blood poet: a passionate man driven by ambition but prey to doubt, suspicion and jealousy; sure of his vocation while bitterly resentful of the obstacles that blighted his career; devoured by sexual desire and frustration; and in thrall to alcohol and opium.

God another sensationalist- he wasn't a heavy drinker and opium addict nor promiscuous.

Through unparalleled original research, Roe arrives at a fascinating reassessment of Keats's entire life, from his early years at Keats's Livery Stables through his harrowing battle with tuberculosis and death at age twenty-five.

Meaning his own new theories/interpretations!

Focusing on crucial turning points, Roe finds in the locations of Keats's poems new keys to the nature of his imaginative quest. Roe is the first biographer to provide a full and fresh account of Keats's childhood in the City of London and how it shaped the would-be poet.

Full and fresh= his own ideas- not the truth!

The mysterious early death of Keats's father,

Never thought falling off a horse was "mysterious" a death- commonplace back then.

living in the shadow of the notorious madhouse Bedlam

"Filled with revelations and daring to ask new questions"= make something new and contoversial up!

Load of b#####ks it sounds to me.

[Cath]

Publicity puffs always dramatise and overstate things. Let's wait and see what the book itself says. Until then, I'm keeping an open mind.

[Cath]

Good news, gentle friends!

Nicholas Roe's new biography of John Keats has been published and is now available in the UK!! The publication date was pushed forward to the beginning of September:

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/nicholas+roe/john+keats/9197491/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Keats-Life-Nicholas-Roe/dp/0300124651/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348052902&sr=8-1

The publication date for the US edition is still showing as Nov 13th 2012, so our American friends may have to remain patient.

I ordered my copy today and am extremely excited about soon being able to dive into a new Life of the poet! I'll write a review as soon as I'm through and would be very interested to hear your thoughts & read your reviews, too.

[Saturn]

OOh I must drop into Waterstones at the weekend and grab a copy

[Cath]

There is an article in the UK Guardian today about Nicholas Roe's biography and specifically Keats's relationship to opium:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/sep/21/john-keats-opium-addict

I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive...

[Cath]

And in the Daily Mail...:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2207085/John-Keats-opium-addict-contentious-biography-claims.html

[Saturn]

I got my copy earlier