"Down a Spiral Staircase, Never-Ending"

This meticulous study is a literary biography of Polish Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz, contemporary of Tadeusz Borowski and Witold Gombrowicz. Judith Dompkowski closely examines various patterns of motion and unrest in both the early collections of Milosz's poetry (Selected Poems and Bells in Winter) and prose (The Issa Valley and Seizure of Power), indicating how they offer new insights into four crucial areas of his life: his role in history, his exile, his estimations of self, and his role as a poet. The book offers an excellent introduction to the work of this complex and gifted emigré writer.