At Seventy: A Journal

by May Sarton

Book Overview

May Sarton-poet, novelist, and chronicler-occupies a special place in American letters. This new journal chronicles the year that began on May 3, 1982, her seventieth birthday. At her home in Maine, she savors "the experience of being alive in this beautiful place," reflecting on nature, friends, and work. "Why is it good to be old?" she was asked at one of her lectures. "Because," she said, "I am more myself than I have ever been."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393304345
• ISBN13: 9780393304343
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A Year in a Writer's Life On the Maine Coast

May Sarton, noted "women's writer," journals her 70th year of life. The account records the seasons in Southern Maine while detailing the sometimes mundane (cleaning out a cupboard, visiting friends) and othertimes notable moments in her year. In Sarton's hands, even the mundane blooms and soars with wonderful phrasing and insight. Her life was rich with visits and correspondence with people both humble and noted. At times the references to people and places or to others' writings passed over my head, but overall the journal was pleasurable reading. Walking her dog Tamas, shoveling out from a blizzard, reveling in the spring flowers, celebrating her poetry with a reading to a receptive audience... the journal invites the reader to share in her life. This will appeal to anyone who loves nature, Maine, writing, or contemplative literature.