Customer Reviews

Cold War Poetry

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A great book, eagerly anticipated by lovers of the serious poets of the era. Especially appreciated are the critiques and commentary of the works of the late Hyam Plutzik, whose major work, Horatio, has been called brilliant by many reviewers and readers, over the last forty years, and who still has a following among serious students of poetry.

Brunner's introduction provides an important historical framework for his discourse. It reminds one of the push-pull between mass culture and classical ideals that existed in post war society, and the way this reality fueled the work of serious poets and artists at the time.

Hats off to Dr. Brunner for taking the time and care to provide a critical and historical perspective of poets who should be more widely known that the Beats, but aren't.

The issue is how to get a book like this to a wider audience.

This is a wonderful collection of poems from an era when the world was at war--though not fighting everywhere--in many ways not dissimilar to our own era, when many supposed allies are in truth enemies.

The poems are unique, adept and cunningly capture the essence of an era at the same time more frightening and simpler than our own. People knew, then, that there were things of which they should be terrified, and that crystal understanding registers in each of these poems.

What is most terrifying today is that people are not sufficiently frightened, but live in a fantasy land, dreaming of peace while mass warfare against the West is planned everywhere.

Strangely enough, one finds hope in these poems.