Through archival and private sources, many previously untapped, Richard Lemm connects Acorn's self-perpetuated image as a working-class rebel, and his peculiar brand of communism, to his employment history and experience of war. The poet's troubled relationships with family members, his wife - writer Gwendolyn MacEwan - lovers, other writers and friends, and his chronic ill-health are all explored as sources of both personal pain and inspiration.

Richard Lemm (1946) grew up in Seattle, Washington, came to Canada in 1967, and moved to Prince Edward Island in 1983. He is a professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Prince Edward Island. From 1977 to 1987, he was a faculty member at the Banff School of Fine Arts, and he is a past president of the League of Canadian Poets. Prelude to the Bacchanal (1990) won the Canadian Authors#&39; Association Award for poetry. Lemm was literary editor at Ragweed Press for three years, and he is the author of the biography Milton Acorn: In Love and Anger (1999).

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"A remarkable achievement. This book not only gives us new insight into Acorn's life, but also into his work. A fine critical biography of one of Canada's great poets." Patrick Lane. "A crucial view of Acorn's genius and his writing of region and nation in the Canadian experience ... Like Acorn himself, Lemm reveals the strengths and the vitality of our national culture." J.A. Wainright.