Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Disch, a poet and novelist, has collected here a number of striking essays on the state of contemporary poetry. Perhaps the best word to describe this book is 'lively.' Disch is both opinionated and refreshingly, delightfully funny. This last is a rare and singular virtue in a literary critic, one which leads Disch to make some pleasantly goofy nonstatements (comparing works by Galway Kinnell and James Tate: 'If Kinnell's amiability is a late-night snack of milk and cookies, James Tate's ... is a whole box of Little Debbie Snack Cakes') and which, more importantly, keeps his essays alive and cheerfully free from the detritus of dreary seriousness that poetry criticism can so quickly accumulate. Disch has an even-handed, light-hearted disregard
for the poetry academy, acknowledging some value to poetry workshops and graduate programs as self-help programs for people hoping to develop their gifts of self-expression, but finding them of 'little assistance' to anyone actually wanting to learn to write poetry. His essays on individual poets and texts are perhaps the most valuable part of this collection: he tends to write about poets and poetry which he truly likes, and his enthusiasm is contagious." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)