Open Me Carefully: Emily Dickinson's Intimate Letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson (Paris Press)

The 19th–century American poet’s uncensored and breathtaking letters, poems, and letter-poems to her sister-in-law and childhood friend. For the first time, selections from Emily Dickinson’s thirty-six year correspondence with her childhood friend, neighbor, and sister-in-law, Susan Huntington Dickinson, are compiled in a single volume. Open Me Carefully invites a dramatic new understanding of Emily Dickinson’s life and work, overcoming a century of censorship and misinterpretation. For the millions of readers who love Emily Dickinson’s poetry, Open Me Carefully brings new light to the meaning of the poet’s life and work. Gone is Emily as lonely spinster; here is Dickinson in her own words, passionate and fully alive. Praise for Open Me Carefully “With spare commentary, Smith . . . and Hart . . . let these letters speak for themselves. Most important, unlike previous editors who altered line breaks to fit their sense of what is poetry or prose, Hart and Smith offer faithful reproductions of the letters’ genre-defying form as the words unravel spectacularly down the original page.” —Renee Tursi, The New York Times Book Review A Compilation Of Selections From Emily Dickinson's 36-year Correspondence To Her Neighbor And Sister-in-law, Susan Huntington Dickinson, Brings To Light Her Key Role In The Poet's Passion And Inspiration, And As Her Primary Reader And Literary Companion. Section 1. Why Suzie! : Early Writings, 1850 To Mid-1850s -- Section 2. Sue, Dear Sue, Sweet Sue, Sister : Early Middle Writings, Mid-1850s To Mid-1860s -- Section 3. The Incidents Of Love : Late Middle Writings, Mid-1860s To Mid-1870s -- Section 4. To Be Susan Is Imagination : Late Writings, Mid-1870s To May 1886. Edited By Ellen Louise Hart And Martha Nell Smith. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. For the first time, selections from Emily Dickinson's thirty-six year correspondence to her neighbor and sister-in-law, Susan Huntington Dickinson, are compiled in a single volume. Open Me Carefully invites a dramatic new understanding of Emily Dickinson's life and work, overcoming a century of censorship and misinterpretation. For the millions of readers who love Emily Dickinson's poetry, Open Me Carefully brings new light to the meaning of the poet's life and work. Gone is Emily as lonely spinster; here is Dickinson in her own words, passionate and fully alive.