A sublime lyrical poet, Joseph Brodsky knew the reality of human evil firsthand.

A World Fiercely Observed


A sublime lyrical poet, Joseph Brodsky knew the reality of human evil firsthand.

Joseph Brodsky called himself "a Russian poet, an English essayist, and an American citizen." He chose, embraced and mastered each of these identities with passion and defended them in the face of very formidable obstacles. The late Lev Loseff tells Brodsky's inspiring and complicated story well in his densely packed and thoroughly researched "literary life." Translated from the Russian, it is the long-overdue first English-language biography of the Nobel Prize-winning writer.