The Undiscovered Country
Poetry in the Age of Tin
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Columbia University Press
Published:1st Nov '05
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
For more than a quarter century, William Logan's witty, bare-knuckled reviews have rocked the pages of the New York Times Book Review, the Times Literary Supplement, the New Criterion, and numerous other journals. Vanity Fair's James Wolcott has called Logan the "best poetry critic in America," a reviewer who vividly assays the most memorable and damning features of a poet's work.The Undiscovered Country measures the critical and textual traditions of Shakespeare's sonnets, Whitman's use of the American vernacular, and the mystery of Marianne Moore. The collection includes a thorough reconsideration of Robert Lowell and a groundbreaking analysis of Sylvia Plath's relationship to her father. Logan's unsparing "verse chronicles" survey the successes and failures of contemporary verse. While railing against the blandness of much of today's poetry (and the critics who champion mediocre work), Logan also celebrates Paul Muldoon's high comedy, Anne Carson's quirky originality, Seamus Heaney's backward glances, and Czeslaw Milosz's indictment of Polish poetry.
For 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.William Logan has been called both the "preeminent poet-critic of his generation" and the "most hated man in American poetry." For more than a quarter century, in the keen-witted and bare-knuckled reviews that have graced the New York Times Book Review, the Times Literary Supplement (London), and other journals, William Logan has delivered razor-sharp assessments of poets present and past. Logan, whom James Wolcott of Vanity Fair has praised as being "the best poetry critic in America," vividly assays the most memorable and most damning features of a poet's work. While his occasionally harsh judgments have raised some eyebrows and caused their share of controversy (a number of poets have offered to do him bodily harm), his readings offer the fresh and provocative perspectives of a passionate and uncompromising critic, unafraid to separate the tin from the gold. The longer essays in The Undiscovered Country explore a variety of poets who have shaped and shadowed contemporary verse, measuring the critical and textual traditions of Shakespeare's sonnets, Whitman's use of the American vernacular, the mystery of Marianne Moore, and Milton's invention of personality, as well as offering a thorough reconsideration of Robert Lowell and a groundbreaking analysis of Sylvia Plath's relationship to her father. Logan's unsparing "verse chronicles" present a survey of the successes and failures of contemporary verse. Neither a poet's tepid use of language nor lackadaisical ideas nor indulgence in grotesque sentimentality escapes this critic's eye. While railing against the blandness of much of today's poetry (and the critics who trumpet mediocre work), Logan also celebrates Paul Muldoon's high comedy, Anne Carson's quirky originality, Seamus Heaney's backward glances, Czeslaw Milosz's indictment of Polish poetry, and much more. Praise for Logan's previous works: Desperate Measures (2002)"When it comes to separating the serious from the fraudulent, the ambitious from the complacent, Logan has consistently shown us what is wheat and what is chaff...The criticism we remember is neither savage nor...
Logan 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
- Winner of National Book Critics Circle , Award for Criticism 2005
- Winner of Contemporary Poetry Review, Best Criticism Book 2005
ISBN: 9780231136389
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
400 pages