John Donne: The Reformed Soul: A Biography

I have returned to Donne's poems on and off for the past 30 years, but never taken the time to get to know the man behind the work. The poet's life is fascinating in itself and Stubbs' makes excellent use of it in a book that is a pleasure to read. It led me to Donne's later, religious poems, which I (like many others) tended to ignore, but no more. It is now obvious how directly they evolved out of his mystical eroticism. If you like Donne's poems, buy the book. It will enhance your pleasure. The only criticism I might make is that Stubbs clearly is on Donne's side--he genuinely likes the man and perhaps makes more allowances than he should. But the poet does seem to be one of those rare figures who looks more attractive the more you know about him.