Dream Song is the story of John Berryman one of the most gifted poets of a generation that included Elizabeth Bishop Randall Jarrell Robert Lowell and Dylan Thomas. Using Berrymans unpublished letters and poetry as well as interviews with those who knew him intimately Paul Mariani captures Berrymans genius and the tragedy that dogged him while at the same time illuminating one of the most provocative periods in American letters. Here we witness Berrymans struggles with alcohol and drugs his obsession with women and fame and his friendships with luminary writers of the century. Mariani creates an unforgettable portrait of a poet who by the time of his suicide at age fiftyseven had won a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. show more