Auden in the Looking Glass

A writer who believes that a writer’s private life “is, or should be, of no concern to anybody except himself, his family and friends” is not likely to write an autobiography. Auden’s Commonplace Book, soon to be published by the Viking Press, undoubtedly is the nearest thing to an autobiography he will ever produce. Here are some samples from it. The exercise is followed on page 67 by an appraisal of Auden’s life and work by the distinguished English critic Frank Kermode, a contributing editor of the Atlantic.