I picked up Poet of the Appetites after going through a bit of an M.F.K. Fisher binge, hoping to put the fragmented autobiographical pieces in some kind of proper order, and learn some more about what had been left out of her stories. Here Joan Reardon does fill in gaps–the reader learns about love affairs with both sexes, some rather heartbreaking family estrangements, the demise of each of her three marriages, and the development of her career. So in that respect, the book succeeds–Ms. Reardon must have done an extraordinary amount of research, and she lays out the facts of Ms. Fisher’s life in rather minute detail.

However, I found that knowing more facts about Ms. Fisher made me like her less. In this version of her life, she comes across as very selfish in many ways. (If I were to attempt a psychological diagnosis, I might go with arrested development.) I found that I much preferred Ms. Fisher’s own versions of her stories (even when they were considerably less truthful) because she was such a gifted writer. Somehow, her personality and her talents just didn’t come alive in this account, and while it answered some questions about what happened, and how, and when, ultimately, it didn’t add much to my understanding of the writer. Or maybe I just like her best when she’s the heroine of all of her own stories.

Still, M.F.K Fisher had such an extraordinarily unusual life, that I don’t regret learning more about it. I think, though, that her definitive biography has yet to be written. Until then, unless you are really looking for a lot of detail, skip this one, and refer to her Wikipedia page.

BOOK: Poet of the Appetites–the Lives and Loves of M.F.K. Fisher

AUTHOR: Joan Reardon

YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 2005

IMAGE: Book cover, Macmillan