Red Comet

The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath

By: Heather Clark

Narrated by: Laura Jennings

Length: 45 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize Finalist

The highly anticipated biography of Sylvia Plath that focuses on her remarkable literary and intellectual achievements, while restoring the woman behind the long-held myths about her life and art.

“One of the most beautiful biographies I've ever read." (Glennon Doyle, author of number one New York Times best seller, Untamed)

With a wealth of never-before-accessed materials, Heather Clark brings to life the brilliant Sylvia Plath, who had precocious poetic ambition and was an accomplished published writer even before she became a star at Smith College. Refusing to read Plath’s work as if her every act was a harbinger of her tragic fate, Clark considers the sociopolitical context as she thoroughly explores Plath’s world: her early relationships and determination not to become a conventional woman and wife; her troubles with an unenlightened mental health industry; her Cambridge years and thunderclap meeting with Ted Hughes; and much more.

Clark’s clear-eyed portraits of Hughes, his lover Assia Wevill, and other demonized players in the arena of Plath’s suicide promote a deeper understanding of her final days. Along with illuminating readings of the poems themselves, Clark’s meticulous, compassionate research brings us closer than ever to the spirited woman and visionary artist who blazed a trail that still lights the way for women poets the world over.

©2020 Heather Clark (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

A New York Times Top 10 Book of the Year • Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the LA Times Book Prize • A New York Times Notable Book • Named a Book of the Year: O, the Oprah Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Boston Globe, Literary Hub, The Times (London), The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, and The Times of India • Winner of the Biographers' Club Slightly Foxed Prize for Best First Biography

“Mesmerizing . . . Comprehensive . . . Stuffed with heretofore untold anecdotes that illuminate or extend our understanding of Plath’s life . . . Clark is a felicitous writer and a discerning critic of Plath’s poetry . . . There is no denying the book’s intellectual power and, just as important, its sheer readability.” —The New York Times

“A majestic tome with the narrative propulsion of a thriller. We now have the complete story.” —O, The Oprah Magazine

“An exhaustively researched, frequently brilliant masterwork. . . . It is an impressive achievement representing a prizeworthy contribution to literary scholarship and biographical journalism.” —The Washington Post

Love the book, not the narrator

The book itself is fantastic for the wealth of data weaved together about it’s subject. Despite my hesitation with the sample, I still decided to give the Audible version a listen. While I will eventually make it through this, the narrator ruins it for me. The details I would usually love in biographies in general and did love while reading the actual book, are really hard to listen to here. The delivery is always monotonous and there are the occasional mispronounced words.

Exceptional

I truly enjoyed every bit of this biography which is never boring. The narrator is pleasant and easy to listen to without causing the listener to dose off! I did catch one or two mistakes, but, in a tome like this , I felt overall she did exceptionally well. This biography is well researched, yet, reads like an interesting story. I liked the references to the other poets of the time. The ending of course is the deepest, most heart-rending part. Recommended.

Red Comet excellent

The very best biography of Sylvia Plath You will not be disappointed Finally a comprehensive book on the great poetess life

Devastatingly Compelling Biography of Sylvia Plath

This compellingly written biography of the greatest poets and writers of this Century demands both a time ( 47 hours +)and an emotional commitment to a tragic female artist’s story. It is worth the investment!

One of the most remarkable biographies ever

This is a remarkable and well researched biography about the total personhood, daughter, woman, scholar, poet, wife and mother who was Sylvia Plath.

Sylvia Plath was a great loss.

She would’ve been a great President, but her artistic sensibility probably would have gotten in the way, which is unfortunate. The most passionate, creative women do not usually choose politics as a field of endeavor. This is our ongoing loss as a civilization.

This book stayed with me. Excellent listen!

I didn’t know what to expect with this book purchase, not knowing a lot about Sylvia Plath. I found it so interesting and sad. Although the book is really quite long, I didn’t want it to end. Makes me want to learn more about her and her work.

Brilliant

The narration was a bit robotic but other than that this was utterly compelling. Inspiring and timely work of cultural and literary analysis.
More like this please!.

Great book, poor performance

Excellent biography and literary analysis. Compelling and enlightening description of how politics and the prevailing view of a woman’s place affected the brilliant and ambitious Plath. The performance was awful: words mispronounced often, such as the word poem consistently read as pome. Very annoying. I will never buy an Audible book read by this performer again.

Outstanding portrait of an entire era through a single life

With the detailed inclusion of biographical, literary, and sociopolitical history including the anti-immigrant WW2, anti-democratic Cold War, and pervasive misogynistic tendencies in both US and UK, as well as specifics of the failings of psychological/psychiatric care during Plath’s lifetime, the biographer presents a massive document of an extraordinary life and tragic death. The pronunciation flaws of the narrator are utterly annoying. Repeated mispronunciations of “row” as in an argument (as opposed to row as in a boat), plus La Leche League reference pronounced “La Lekay League” as well as dozens of others, and the awful poetry readings are such a shame. This 45-hour piece could be cleaned up and become impeccable because the book is worthy of a perfect recitation.