Sigh...it's disheartening to read an editor of this new collection of letters proclaiming "These letters will dispel all that [i.e. the Thompson portrayal of Frost]." While I am quick to denounce the Thompson biography (and have done so in print), it is not helpful to respond to it by trying to recreate the pre-Thompson mythology about Frost.
Thompson was not entirely wrong. Frost had an oversized ego that got more bloated with acclaim and sometimes damaged his work. He could be heartless, and strange, but he could also be warm and thoughtful, a part of the script Thompson chose to excise for petty reasons.
It is time for time academics to start writing about Frost the man, not some cartoon figure of their own creation.
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