On Elizabeth Bishop

"This book offers the reader a luminous meditation on Elizabeth Bishop's poetry. It focuses, among other things, on the restraint of her style and the power of the unsaid in her work. But more than that: Colm Toibin meshes his journey as a writer with hers, showing with unique eloquence how her poems have entered and guided his life. I have no doubt this book will become one of the essential texts on Bishop's work."--Eavan Boland, author of "A Woman Without a Country: Poems"

"Colm Toibin--a sensitive critic as well as a novelist--has written an almost ideal introduction to the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop. This could become "the" introduction to Bishop for people who intend to read her for pleasure."--Stephen Burt, author of "Close Calls with Nonsense: Reading New Poetry""