Description
Book SynopsisFor more than a quarter century, William Logan has delivered clear-eyed and razor-sharp assessments of contemporary and classic poetry. Combining the sensibilities of poet and critic, Logan vividly conveys what he finds most memorable and most damning in a poet's work. Poets discussed include Shakespeare, Whitman, Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Rita Dove, Seamus Heaney, and Czeslaw Milosz.
Trade ReviewLogan has firmly established himself as the pit bull of mainstream poetry reviewers. -- Maureen N. McLane Chicago Tribune Sharp writing about poetry can be as delightful as verse itself, a fact William Logan has been proving for years. -- John Freeman Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Exception to the happy talk. His bracing new collection... is filled with hard-hitting reviews that hail quality and drub mediocrity. -- Bil Marx WBUR.ORG Our wittiest critic of contemporary verse lets loose one lethal shaft after another. -- James Marcus Newsday Impeccable understanding of great poetry. Choice The most complete analysis of contemporary English-language poets that we are likely to have. Contemporary Poetry Review William Logan is the best practical critic around. -- Christian Wiman Poetry
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Poetry in the Age of Tin Prisoner, Fancy-Man, Rowdy, Lawyer, Physician, Priest: Whitman's Brags Verse Chronicle: Sins and Sensibility Verse Chronicle: Vanity Fair "You Must Not Take it So Hard, Madame" The Mystery of Marianne Moore Verse Chronicle: No Mercy Verse Chronicle: The Way of All Flesh The Extremity of the Flesh Later Auden The Triumph of Geoffrey Hill Verse Chronicle: Author! Author! Verse Chronicle: Folk Tales Houseman's Ghosts Milton in the Modern: The Invention of Personality Verse Chronicle: All Over the Map Verse Chronicle: Falls the Shadow Poetry and the Age: An Introduction The World Out-Herods Herod Lowell's Bubble: A Postscript Verse Chronicle: The Real Language of Men Verse Chronicle: Satanic Mills Auden's Shakespeare Berryman's Shakespeare The Sins of the Sonnets Permissions Books Under Review Index of Authors Reviewed
