Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year"
"Genially, sometimes waspishly, [Armitage] expounds his belief in languaage as humanitie's most powerful tool, and poetry as the ultimate expression of its potential."
---Rishi Dastidar, Guardian"In this collection of 12 essays . . . Armitage speaks as much to the learned scholar as to the everyday poetry dabbler. . . . he instils in his reader an intense desire to devour the poetry over which he takes such care, from
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to Claudia Rankine."
---Ellen Peirson-Hagger, New Statesman"12 attractive lectures."
---Craig Raine, Spectator Australia"
A Vertical Art add[s] greatly to our feeling for [Armitage’s] skill as a craftsman as well as the range of his knowledge of the living, demotic tradition of poetry. . . . The writing is often raw, often hilarious, and always massively intelligent as it goes about charming you.
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---Jesse Nathan, McSweeney's"The book makes poetry seem both accessible to modern readers—who likely imagine the words to be too dense to be understood for pleasure—and at the same time profound. The focus is on how poetry binds people together and how it is a form of art that anyone can indulge in." * Choice *
