The Lowercase Jew

by Rodger Kamenetz

As dismissal and disdain of Jews speak through the art of some leading twentieth-century poets, so the poetry of Rodger Kamenetz artfully answers, framing in subtle terms the questions that haunt our culture-about the voices through which culture speaks, about the identity of poet and poetry, about the capacity of art to harm and to heal. Whether subjecting the anti-Semitic verses of T. S. Eliot to a literary trial; conjuring the eloquence with which "Allen Ginsberg forgives Ezra Pound on Behalf of the Jews"; or drawing upon personal history, the Torah, and Jewish mysticism to explore the tangled relations of Jewish identity and modern literature, Kamenetz's poems attest to the inexorable power of language.

Genres: Poetry, Judaism

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Katie Karnehm-Esh · Rating 5 out of 5]

As other reviewers have said, the book is worth reading for "The Lowercase Jew" (a poem imagining T.S. Eliot going on trial for his anti-semitism in "The Wasteland" and "Allen Ginsberg Forgives Ezra Pound On Behalf of the Jews." But the book is full of beautiful, image-laden poems that give pictures of Jewish life and thought. I'm profoundly grateful to have read this book.

[Alessandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing poetry - very quick use of language. I will be willing to lend my copy of this out.