American Reader #6: You Alone Are Real to Me: Remembering Rainer Maria Rilke

Never before available in English, You Alone Are Real to Me documents the relationship between Salomé and Rainer Maria Rilke that spanned almost 30 years. Salomé gives an intimate account of Rilke’s poetic development from the early romantic poems to the sculpted new poems and the final breakthrough of the Elegies. From their romantic beginnings to the later twists and turns of their separate lives, Rilke appealed to Salomé during times of crisis in his writing as well as in the intimate matters of his life. Salomé captures both the summit and the abyss of Rilke’s creative struggle. The memoir offers a stunning portrait of Rilke, as we in the English-speaking world have never really seen him. Richly illustrated with photos, this book is an indispensable work on the author of The Duino Elegies, as well as a rich resource for the growing interest in Salomé.

Lou Andreas-Salomé was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, but lived most of her life in Germany as a famous novelist, memoirist (of Rilke, Nietzsche, and Ibsen), friend to Freud and critic. She was praised by Freud as the smartest woman he had ever met, and prized by Rilke as "one of the most wonderful people who have come my way . . . without the influence of this extraordinary woman my whole development would not have been able to take the paths that have led to many things." Salomé wrote his memoir in 1927, a year after Rilke’s death.

Angela von der Lippe is a senior editor at W.W. Norton. She holds a doctorate in German Literature and Language from Brown University. In her free time, she pursues a personal passion for translation and poetry. She divides her time between New York City, Baltimore and the Adirondacks.