The Work of Poetry

by John Hollander

Includes an index.

Genres: Poetry, Criticism, Literary Criticism

318 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 1997

Reviews

[Daniel Klawitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not every essay in this book reached the same high level of engagement/interest for me, but Hollander was always a brilliant and sometimes difficult mind to meet on the page, whether in his critical essays or in his own poems. He never hid his intellectual bent, and some of these essays are very close, almost microscopic/mathematical readings of poems that sometimes lack the warmth of the man himself.

But there is so much great stuff here that it is well worth the read. Hollander just knows so much about so much that he engenders in me a thrilling mix of anxiety and appreciation all at the same time. What I mean is: as a published poet myself, Hollander's intelligence and insight into the poems of other poets often makes me feel self-conscious about the quality of my own work...but in a good way, in a way that makes you yearn for the excellence he appreciated.

In the end, this book of essays may only have a limited appeal to other poets or very well-read lovers of poetry, I'm not certain. But I would also urge anyone to buy a copy of Hollander's own Selected Poems, which are utterly brilliant.