The Milk of Inquiry

by Wayne Koestenbaum

More meditative, more provocative than his previous, much-praised work, The Milk of Inquiry is Koestenbaum's strongest collection to date. Its most ambitious gesture is a long poem, "Metamorphoses (Masked Ball), " a sequence of 115 bawdy, speedy sonnets, spoken by mythological figures ghosting as historical personages -- among them, Orpheus speaking as Elvis, Proserpina speaking as Freud, Adonis speaking as Cleopatra, and Daphne speaking as Wilde. Short lyrics that show this opulent writer at his most austere and a long autobiographical poem round out the collection.

Genres: Poetry

134 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Wayne Koestenbaum has published five books of critical prose, including The Queen’s Throat: Opera, Homosexuality, and the Mystery of Desire, which was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist; and three books of poetry, including Ode to Anna Moffo and Other Poems. He is a Professor of English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Reviews

[Dave Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Dislodge my father from my imagination and I would have no imagination. I would have a son.”

[Maughn Gregory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Equally clever of technique and dreary of spirit.