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Studying with Miss Bishop: Memoirs from a Young Writer’s Life Paperback – January 12, 2021

by Dana Gioia (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 72 ratings
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"Highly enjoyable . . . Studying with Miss Bishop offers the opportunity to encounter writing as an act of civility."
―Wall Street Journal

"Fascinating snapshots of remarkable encounters which, when brought together, chart a delightfully unusual path to literary success."
―Booklist

"Reading this memoir is like being at one of those memorable dinner parties, attended by the best and brightest, sparkling with wit and excellent conversations. You don’t want it to be over, the conversations to end! But with books, you need not worry. You can go back to the party, savor it, reread it again, and again."
—Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies and Afterlife

In Studying with Miss Bishop, Dana Gioia discusses six people who helped him become a writer and better understand what it meant to dedicate one’s life to writing. Four were famous authors—Elizabeth Bishop, John Cheever, James Dickey, and Robert Fitzgerald. Two were unknown—Gioia’s Merchant Marine uncle and Ronald Perry, a forgotten poet. Each of the six essays provides a vivid portrait; taken together they tell the story of Gioia’s own journey from working-class LA to international literary success.
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  1. Print length
    184 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Paul Dry Books
  4. Publication date
    January 12, 2021
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.5 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1589881516
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1589881518
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[A] fantastically charming collection."―Los Angeles Review of Books

"Gioia’s writing is vivid, generous, and unpretentious, leaving us with enduring and haunting images so fully realized that we feel as if we too were there. This is a beautiful book and an important contribution to American letters."―World Literature Today

"Studying With Miss Bishop is surely destined to become a classic. These affectionate portraits . . . communicate as well as any book ever the love that underlies an authentic literary vocation."―Catholic World Report

"In deft, graceful essays, poet, literary critic, and librettist Gioia recalls six 'people of potent personality' who shaped his vocation . . . An appealing literary memoir."―Kirkus Reviews

"The portraits Gioia creates are vivid, his prose supple, unpretentious, often humorous. What comes across most is his generosity . . . Memoirs of this sort can easily become tired. Gioia’s shows a youthful freshness and curiosity on every page."―First Things

“I can’t imagine a better way to spend time than in the generous company of Dana Gioia, a poet whose work I’ve hugely admired over the decades. He’s an important critic as well as a poet, with a wide range of interests. He writes about writing with an ease and affection that mask the deep rigors of his thought. Studying with Miss Bishop gathers pieces from his early life lived among writers—poets, in particular. Gioia has been uncommonly lucky in meeting many major poets, among them Elizabeth Bishop. His portrait of her in these pages is shrewd and subtle. The famously elusive poet quivers into life, here. The word 'delicious' aptly describes these essays. Gioia lays out a broad intellectual feast, and readers will come away satisfied and smiling.”—Jay Parini, author of Borges and Me: An Encounter

"Highly enjoyable . . . Studying with Miss Bishop offers the opportunity to encounter writing as an act of civility."—Wall Street Journal

"Wonderfully evocative of the literary world in the 1970s and 1980s, these essays are fascinating snapshots of remarkable encounters which, when brought together, chart a delightfully unusual path to literary success."―Booklist

“In his engaging and absorbing memoir, Studying with Miss Bishop, Dana Gioia, one of America's premier critics, poets, and essayists, shares with us the teachers who inspired him. We learn of the quirks of personality, attitudes, philosophies, pedagogy of the likes of Elizabeth Bishop (a rambler and a smoker), Robert Fitzgerald (a wise and rigorous, and big hearted intelligence), John Cheever (suave, even-eyed, exacting), James Dickey (reactive, a bit of a bully, and larger than life). Of course, all along the way, we are also studying with Mr. Gioia himself, a well-read, far-ranging, accurate and perceptive raconteur, a generous and wise teacher. Reading this memoir is like being at one of those memorable dinner parties, attended by the best and brightest, sparkling with wit and excellent conversations. You don’t want it to be over, the conversations to end! But with books, you need not worry. You can go back to the party, savor it, reread it again, and again."—Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies and Afterlife

PRAISE FOR DANA GIOIA'S OTHER BOOKS:

“99 Poems: New & Selected is one of the most anticipated collections of 2016, and it does not disappoint. . . . No matter what the topic―mystery, place remembrance, imagination, stories, songs, love―or the form, these polished pieces are vibrant and inviting.”―The Washington Post on 99 Poems: New & Selected

“A force for poetry here . . . and everywhere, Gioia is richly deserving of a life’s look.”―The Philadelphia Inquirer on 99 Poems: New & Selected

“99 Poems: New & Selected serves to reenforce Gioia’s reputation as one of America’s best living poets. Gioia writes in both metered and free verse and has a respect for form that gives his verse a somewhat classic feel. And yet there is also a heartfelt simplicity that keeps his work warm and accessible.”―The Christian Science Monitor on 99 Poems: New & Selected

“A gifted poet of rhythm and reason, Gioia’s civic and critical pedigree is impressive.”―The Millions on 99 Poems: New & Selected

"Great riches in remarkably few pages."―Booklist, Starred Review on Pity the Beautiful: Poems

“If you're an educated general reader, and you read only one book about contemporary poetry, this should be that book.”―Booklist on "Can Poetry Matter?"

About the Author

Dana Gioia is a poet and critic. He has published five full-length collections of verse, most recently 99 Poems: New & Selected, which won the Poets’ Prize as the best new book of the year. His third collection, Interrogations at Noon, was awarded the American Book Award. An influential critic, Gioia’s controversial volume, Can Poetry Matter? was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. The book is credited with helping revive the role of poetry in American public culture. Gioia has also edited or co-edited two dozen best-selling literary anthologies, including An Introduction to Poetry (with X. J. Kennedy) and Best American Poetry 2018. His essays and reviews have appeared in The New Yorker, Atlantic, Washington Post, New York Times, Hudson Review, and other journals. Gioia has served as the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and as California State Poet Laureate. He is currently the Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture at the University of Southern California. He divides his time between Los Angeles and Sonoma County, California.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Paul Dry Books (January 12, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 184 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1589881516
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1589881518
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.5 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 72 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
72 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

LTCol John K. Swensson, Professor Emeritus, De Anza College
5.0 out of 5 stars ANOTHER STUNNING BOOK BY DANA GIOIA
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
STUDYING WITH MISS BISHOP is a splendid short memoir of Gioia's tutelage at Harvard in a small class conducted by the great poet (And US Poet Laureate) Elizabeth Bishop. He also includes insightful memories of Robert Fitzgerald, John Cheever, a mystical Ronald Perry who died the night before their first meeting, and a personal attack by James Dickey at a cocktail party. Gioia has just finished a tour as the Poet Laureate of CA, and previously served as the very effective director of the NEA. This book is another gift to his many fans, well written and sharing a lot of wonderful insights into people and places of his youth. Dana also includes a short, personal background of how he grew to be a poet, and how his early passion for reading developed. This book is as good as Dana's wonderful poetry. My highest recommendation--and I'm giving copies as gifts as well.

John K. Swensson, LTC, US Army (Ret) and Professor Emeritus of English, De Anza College
10 people found this helpful
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J. Arnold
5.0 out of 5 stars Well told stories of the writing life
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2021
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I had known Dana Gioia only through my familiarity with some of his poems and his talks online about beauty and poetry. I was reluctant to make the commitment to read “Studying with Miss Bishop,” but I thought it was short enough so what the heck. By the time I finished (at one sitting) I was sorry it had ended. I learned about the craftsmanship underlying the art and the personal commitment to the poet’s life, a life that is not always a happy one. I am inspired to read Elizabeth Bishop more closely, but not James Dickey’s Puella.
4 people found this helpful
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Kevin James Hearle, Ph.D.
4.0 out of 5 stars A poet’s engaging reminiscences about his mentors and other significant writers.
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2021
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Dana Gioia has given us a charming memoir of his literary education, and filled it with illuminating and endearing profiles of Elizabeth Bishop, John Cheever, James Dickey and others. It is a pleasure to read, and a disappointment to reach the end.
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eclectic reader
5.0 out of 5 stars A very powerful memoir
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2021
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It was interesting and a great pleasure to how he developed as a thinker and a writer. His discussion of becoming a bookworm was enjoyable. He chose five people he saw as playing pivotal roles is his life and wrote an essay about each. The process both teaches about those people and illustrates the writers development.
3 people found this helpful
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Gman53
5.0 out of 5 stars Gioia recalls his friendships with various men and women of letters
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2021
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Gioia is a great story teller as well as a poet of the first order. His memories of meeting and getting to know Elizabeth Bishop as well as John Cheever, Robert Fitzgerald, and others are often humorous. They are told with great respect for these literary giants. A great read
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Sullivance
5.0 out of 5 stars A writer remembers
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2021
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A poet’s recollections of the classroom and his celebrated teachers. Well written and evocative.
One person found this helpful
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John Harris
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book.
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2021
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Wonderful book. Beautifully written.
2 people found this helpful
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Oldguy
5.0 out of 5 stars Review
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2021
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Good read
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