The Letters of Thom Gunn

The Letters of Thom Gunn (Faber) is a book to last all the rest of life, every page a blast of some kind – mostly of wit and honesty. There’s no biography yet of this resolutely un-public man (I think the greatest English poet of his generation), so being given even partial access to his brilliantly capacious mind is bracing and enriching, like an intimation of actual friendship. Gunn writes about his excesses – of drugs, sex, literature – with control but no restraint, and what’s really exciting here is to feel his lavish focus on each of the lucky real friends who received these letters. It makes an utterly absorbing read.

With every sentence, one feels Gunn stepping into the light.

A poet of great wit and style, Thom Gunn was also a lyrical portraitist, which is especially evident in his recently collected letters . . . These letters vastly increase our understanding of his painstaking compositional processes . . . One is struck by his startling lack of hubris or defensiveness—his openness, even late in his career, to advice and criticism.

Rowdy, funny, filthy, intensely literate letters . . . These letters have been anticipated, by many, because [Gunn] rarely spilled his guts on the page. There’s been no biography. These letters are what we have, and they don’t disappoint . . . This book, like Gunn’s life, puts an unusual mix of pleasures on display.