Suzanne Edwards

Sympathetic account of the eccentric and unstable young doctor. Of interest for its extensive quoting from Polidori's journal, which adds detail to his and Byron's travels that Byron biographers generally don't bother with, and the authors' own present-day travels to those sites. A relentlessly unflattering portrait of Byron was apparently deemed necessary by the authors in order to downplay the distinctly unflattering portrait of Polidori that emerges from his own writings and actions. (An aspect of Polidori's character that I wasn't particularly aware of is his prudishness, which would have been both amusing and provocative to B.) Questions the received wisdom that the doctor's death at 25 was a suicide.… (meer)