806 Robert Frost (with Adam Plunkett) | My Last Book with Ursula Buchan

About this episode

Jacke Wilson interviews Adam Plunkett about Robert Frost's life and poetry, alongside Ursula Buchan discussing her last book choice.

By the middle of the twentieth century, Robert Frost was widely regarded as America's most popular poet, beloved for the simple, sincere verses that took readers on journeys through the wooded roads of rural New England, accompanied by Frost's wry observations and hardscrabble truths. Just a few years after Frost's death, a scathing biography by Lawrance Thompson painted a different picture of the man, which led critic Helen Vendler to ask, in her review of the biography, whether it was possible to avoid the conclusion that Frost had actually been a "monster." In this episode, Jacke talks to critic and author Adam Plunkett about his new book, Love and Need: The Life of Robert Frost's Poetry, a major new biography that challenges our understanding of Frost's life and poetic legacy. PLUS Ursula Buchan (Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan) stops by to discuss her choice for the last book she will ever read. The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Help support the show at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/literature⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠historyofliterature.com/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. The History of…

People in this episode

Host: Jacke Wilson

Guests: Adam Plunkett, Ursula Buchan

Topics covered

• Robert Frost
• poetry
• biography
• literary criticism
• New England
• last book choices

Keywords

• Robert Frost
• Adam Plunkett
• Ursula Buchan
• poetry biography
• literary criticism
• New England poetry
• last book

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal, The History of Literature Podcast, Lit Hub Radio, The Podglomerate Network

Books & works: Love and Need: The Life of Robert Frost's Poetry, Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan

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