Dylan Thomas in America

When the celebrated Welsh poet Dylan Thomas arrived in New York on his first visit in 1950, for a tour of poetry readings around the country, America didn't know what had hit it. Angelic, devilish, immoral, charming, self-destructive, given to alcoholic binges, he was not what the sober world of American academe had expected. Students loved him--although after his first few encounters with them, the girls had to be protected. And he made quick friends with countless American writers, journalists, and barflies, instantly creating a pop-culture mythology of the doomed artist for the late 20th century. The man who was Thomas' patron and guide was the young poet John Malcolm Brinnin, who watched horrified--though utterly beguiled by the poet's charm and genius--at Thomas' slow descent into hell. This is his harrowing account of the poet's tragic last years.