Poets in Their Youth

This “powerful” memoir of a life among legendary poets “never sensationalizes these brilliant but wildly erratic young men, only seeks to understand them” ( The Washington Post ). In 1942, Eileen Simpson—then Eileen Mulligan—married John Berryman. Both were in their twenties; Eileen had just graduated from Hunter College and John had but one slim volume of poetry to his name. They moved frequently—from New York to Boston, then Princeton—chasing jobs, living simply, relying on the hospitality of