THIS DIFFICULT INDIVIDUAL

In the world of letters, there is probably no more controversial figure than that of Ezra Pound. As poet and critic he probably, for the present, is accepted as a genius because of his extensive writing and exceptional learning-witness his Cantos. Robert Graves would dissent. This book was written by a man who befriended Pound during his stay in St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, where he was committed for insanity to save him from the charge of treason incurred on the grounds of his pacifism and his antisemitic broadcasts from Italy during World War II. The world of letters was divided about him and when Conrad Aiken included some of Pound's poetry in an anthology, his editor, Cerf, insisted they be omitted. This story of Ezra Pound is sympathetic and records the main facts of his life. It brushes off, rather lightly, Pound's egotism, eccentricities and his romantic identification with the past (Chinese, Italian, Provencal).... Certainly, as of this moment, Pound has an assured place in literature, and this quasi-personal, not too critical, portrait will supplement the story of the man.