Changing subjects : digressions in modern American poetry /

Despite the myriad books, popular and erudite, about modern and contemporary US poetry, this is the first to examine in depth the subject of digression or "drift" within the long and short lyric. Reddy (Univ. of Chicago) brings a poet's sensibility to his subject, with close readings of exemplary texts using various critical theories. References abound to contemporary theorists such as Foucault, Lacan, and Jameson and to older critics such as Frye and Steiner. Reddy is also steeped in the centuries of literature that came before and informed the period of his focused attention. His principal figures are Marianne Moore and her commentary on "interdisciplinary digressions"; Lyn Hejinian and her "digressive narratology"; and Walt Whitman and the poetry of the New York School, with particularly original remarks on the poetry of Frank O'Hara. In the final chapter, "New Digressions: John Ashbery and the Changing Subjects of the Twenty-First Century," Reddy introduces and illuminates new poets: Robyn Schiff, Juliana Spahr, Joshua Beckman, and Matthew Rohrer. He also discusses the frequently maligned Language poets. The dexterous introductory chapter focuses on Wallace Stevens and his Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction. This study gives delight along with rich study and analysis. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above. B. Wallenstein emeritus, CUNY City College