Robert Lowell is recognised as the Father of the confessional poetry genre. He gave lectures in Boston on poetry to Plath and Sexton and his influence can be seen in their work. As for Life studies, it doesn't really get going until part 4 of the collection. The first poems in the collection seem very dated and reliant on the Eliotic conventions of poetry. The Autobiographical story 91 revere street I found hard work and not at all endearing. The dedicatory poems were good, especially the one dedicated to Hart Crane. Then in part 4 come the best poems. It is easy to see how other poets were influenced by his work. There are some cracking lines in the poems, flashes of genius. Part 4 redeems the collection totally. Lowell should rightly be credited with creating confessional poetry movement