This catalogue of poet John Berryman's (1914-1972) personal library provides unique insight into the life and work, the range of thought and emotion, and the special interests and enthusiasms of the man the British critic Donald Davie described as "one of the most gifted and intelligent Americans of his time." The library is, just for the volumes alone, a distinguished one in several areas.

What makes it especially valuable though, as this study conveys, is the extensive pencil and ink record of Berryman's passionate and lifelong interaction with the books.