Wrestling with the Angel: A Life of Janet Frame

King takes on no small feat in writing the biography of an author Time magazine once called "the greatest writer of this century" and one who has remained so secluded and private throughout her career. A facinating and rewarding book on an amazing literary talent.

This enthusiastic and respectful biography accomplishes so much. Michael King's affection and deep understanding of Janet Frame - and her cooperation with him - inform this work. She is a very private public figure. In this book one gets to know her quite well, with so sense that her privacy has been compromised. One guesses that is due to King's considerable talent for people as well as for biography. King gets the emotional tenor of events just right. He looks into Frame's entire life and work - and focusses on the little things along with the big picture - down to mentioning (for example) that Frame attended one of many dinners in her honor in Wellington, NZ - wearing a formal dress that she had bought for $1.50 from a Salvation Army shop. It's a detail that he could have left out, but that Frame herself would have included. I was grateful for details, for the inclusion of Frame's considerable and insightful analyses (often only a few words long!) of the works of her writing peers, and liberal use of quotations. This biography manages to be comprehensive, graceful, and not wholly uncritical - although clearly and reasonably charmed by its subject. In addition there are great photographs and notes.Admirers of Janet Frame and of the art and craft of biography will like this book very much.

At first sight this is a dauntingly long book of 500 pages plus. However, even after reading a few pages, one is quickly drawn into an amazinly frank and totally engrossingly private "interview" with a remarkable writer. There is a vast amount of private detail of the emotional and intellecual life ot Janet Frame. Yet with all the detail, one never has the impression of gratuitious intrusion. The reader is led on by the depth of the feeling and the necessity to reveal all the amazing diversity of this writer. Michael King exposes the rawness and richness of a literary genius. Facts of childhood and young passion satisfy the voyeur. The devastating experince of primitive psychology and brutal mental health treatment give way to her emotional awakening in Europe, far from the strait-jacket of the censure of a puritanical and uncomprehending New Zealand public. This book offers far more than the superficial film of Janet Frame's early life, scarrred by the malady of "being different." The book's supreme achievement is that it allows the reader to understand the psyche of the writer, and thereby, allow a far richer and more rewarding understanding of a truly superb writer. Any reader of this book will gain not only a closer relationship with the literary figure but also, a more informed knowledge of a New Zealand writer who belongs to a world fraternity. Her years in America at Yaddo and her acceptance into an esoteric literary group let the reader share a rare experience of intimacy and brilliance. Michael King is a direct writer. He is clear and direct. There is no pretence of showmanship or precious explanation. This book is a must for those interested in the life and writing of an author who overcomes all obstacles for the sake of true genius.