"Literary criticism, as I attempt to practice it," writes Harold Bloom in The Anatomy of Influence, "is in the first place literary, that is to say, personal and passionate."

The Anatomy of Influence: Literature as a Way of Life, by Harold Bloom, explores the lines of influence among American and British poets, particularly emphasizing Walt Whitman and Shakespeare. Much of this is a re-working of Bloom's prior analysis and claims, but it is an excellent consolidation, plus some new thoughts inter...