Synopses & Reviews
An adventure with a roving genius of literary criticismMichael Hofmann—poet, translator, and intellectual vagabond—has established himself as one of the keenest critics of contemporary literature. Safely nestled between the covers of Where Have You Been?, he offers a hand to guide us and an encouraging whisper in our ear, leading us on a trip through what to read, how to think, and why to like. And while these essays bear sharp insights that will help us revisit writers with a fresh eye, they are also a story of love between a reader and his treasured books.
In the thirty essays collected here, Hofmann brings his signature wit and sustained critical mastery to a poetic, penetrating, and candid discussion of the writers and artists of the last hundred years. Here are the indispensable poets without which contemporary poetry would be unimaginable—Elizabeth Bishop, “the poets poets poet,” the “ghostly skill” of Robert Lowell, and the man he calls the greatest English poet since Shakespeare, Ted Hughes. But he also illumines the despair of John Berryman and the antics of poetrys bogeyman, Frederick Seidel.
In essays on art that are themselves works of art, Hofmanns agile and brilliant mind explores a panoply of subjects from the mastery of translation to the best day job for a poet. What these diverse gems share are the critics insatiable curiosity and great charm. Where Have You Been? is an unmissable journey with literatures most irresistible flaneur.
Review
Praise for Michael Hofmann
“Michael Hofmann has a skeptical intelligence, an observant eye, a compulsion to speak the unspeakable, and the useful wariness of the displaced person.” —Helen Vendler, The New York Review of Books
“Hofmanns is one of the definitive bodies of work of the last half century.” —Stephen Knight, The Times Literary Supplement
Review
Praise for Where Have You Been?
*Starred Review* "Based on this collection, Hofmann deserves to be considered one of today's premier critics." —Publishers Weekly
"In this vibrant collection of previously published essays, poet, critic and translator Hofmann elevates criticism to an art. He amply fulfills his aim to ‘investigate and animate his subjects, ‘make them resonate, play with and in and over them . . . As these passionate essays attest, Hofmann cares deeply: about writing, art and the creative possibilities of criticism." —Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Michael Hofmann
“Michael Hofmann has a skeptical intelligence, an observant eye, a compulsion to speak the unspeakable, and the useful wariness of the displaced person.” —Helen Vendler, The New York Review of Books
“Hofmanns is one of the definitive bodies of work of the last half century.” —Stephen Knight, The Times Literary Supplement
About the Author
Michael Hofmann is an acclaimed poet, translator, and critic. He has published six books of poetry and has translated more than sixty books from the German, including Gottfried Benns Impromptus: Selected Poems and Some Prose, as well as works by Ernst Jünger, Franz Kafka, and Joseph Roth. His criticism appears regularly in the London Review of Books, The New York Review of Books, and Poetry. He currently teaches poetry and translation at the University of Florida.