Nearer the Heart's Desire: Poets of the Rubaiyat: A Dual Biography of Omar Khayyam and Edward FitzGerald

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Review ------ "An artful analysis of the lives of two poets separated by centuries, geography, and culture, united by hope." ―Kirkus Reviews "This concise, stimulating, and fluent book is highly recommended." ―Library Journal "[A] graceful, sympathetic account." ―Booklist "In Richardson, the philosopher has found a tireless champion and a perceptive editor. Richardson is that increasingly rare phenomenon among academics, an enthusiast, even a lover, of his subjects." ―John Banville, New York Review of Books on THE HEART OF WILLIAM JAMES "A splendidly written book . . . Richardson's critical discussions of the journals, 'Walden,' 'Cape Cod,' and the other works are invariably illuminating and cast a new light on Thoreau's sometimes cross-grained but fascinating personality." ―The Boston Globe on HENRY THOREAU: A LIFE OF THE MIND "To read this book is to be touched on the shoulder by a thousand years of poetry and thought . . . For those who understand Emerson, this book is unforgettable; it is essential." ―Mary Oliver on EMERSON: THE MIND ON FIRE "A landmark study, certain to endure." ―Booklist on WILLIAM JAMES: IN THE MAELSTROM OF AMERICAN MODERNISM "Richardson does a fine job of bringing the two poets to life for a modern audience for whom they are probably unfamiliar. Nearer the Heart's Desire is ultimately a biography not of the poets but of their shared poetry." - Shelf Awareness "[An]elegant dual biography of Khayyam and his translator." - Wall Street Journal Read more ( javascript:void(0) ) About the Author ---------------- Robert D. Richardson is the accled author of several biographies, including William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism, Emerson: The Mind on Fire, and Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind. He has edited anthologies such as Three Centuries of American Poetry and Ralph Waldo Emerson: Selected Essays, Lectures, and Poems, and has taught at Harvard, Yale, the University of Denver, and UNC-Chapel Hill, among many others. He and his wife, Annie Dillard, live in Key West; Cripple Creek, Virginia; and South Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Read more ( javascript:void(0) )