Familiar Spirits: A Memoir of James Merrill and David Jackson

Rating:
Summary: Memorial to a monument
Review: This is a breezy and fascinating memoir of Merrill and Jackson and their relationship as seen through Lurie's eyes. Lurie befriended Merrill, and through him Jackson, and was a witness to their love affair, its ups and downs, and Merrill's literary success with his epic poem "The Changing Light at Sandover". Lurie gives insight to the epic's origins by describing the couple's sessions with a ouija board. She also elaborates on Jackson's influence on the epic, a fact which the world seems to want to ignore. Merrill and Jackson's relationship deteriorated as the epic poem gained in popularity, and by the time of Merrill's death in 1995, the two men were hardly speaking. Lurie has written a poignant memoir of her friends, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and yet it seemed distant, almost through glass. It was as if the book is just a series of thoughts about the two men, without even attempting to make us feel as close to them as Lurie did. I definitely do recommend it to fans of Merrill, as well as those interested in the lives of artists and writers.