Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Although Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gluck ( The Wild Iris ) maintains that she is ``uneasy with commentary,'' her collection of 16 essays, all previously published in literary journals, is often profound. The subjects of her writing include poets Stanley Kunitz, Hugh Seidman, T. S. Eliot; the future (considered in a 1993 Williams College graduation address); education; and the nature of courage. Yet the real lure of her commentary is sensibility, even more than subject. As with her poetry, Gluck's prose is fine and pared but visionary; her intelligence is precise and earnest. She uses mind as a moral power, whether addressing experience or literature. For instance, in ``Disinterestedness,'' Gluck writes in support of an ideal of reading with nearly bias-free receptivity that literary theorists may scoff, but is liberating and persuasive as she explains it. Here and elsewhere, Gluck's brevity, clarity and resolute independence are impressive. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Gluck (Pulitzer Prize winner for The Wild Iris, LJ 5/15/92) here presents an uneven collection of essays on modern and contemporary poetry. Some of the essays are written in a lucid prose style. For instance, "Disruption, Hesitation, Silence," the best of the volume, compares the poetry of John Berryman, George Oppen, and T.S. Eliot, associating each with an adjectival attribute in the title. However, many of the essays need more analysis of the poets covered. For example, the essay "On Stanley Kunitz" (Gluck's mentor) is too short for a tribute and fails to infuse any germane thought into his poetry. At times, Gluck is able to pull off the improbable comparison of these very different poets in a creative twist of her imagination. Perhaps the lack of development in many of the essays results because Gluck "doesn't trust [her] prose." She holds back from explaining her theories and developing her proofs, which leaves the reader wanting more. For literary collections.-Tim Gavin, Episcopal Acad., Merion, Pa. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
