The Line Forms Here (Poets on Poetry) [Paperback]

David Lehman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Poets on Poetry | Publication Date: August 15, 1992

Relfections on poetry by a critic and poet who is also a distinguished literary journalist

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Newsweek, Parnassus, scholarly university press anthologies--the range of publications where these reviews, essays and miscellaneous pieces first appeared reflects Lehman's ( Signs of the Times: Deconstruction and the Fall of Paul de Man ) versatility as a critic of contemporary poetry. Writing about literature for so varied and wide an audience--``a wider audience than is presumed to exist for it''--has led Lehman to declare ``that poetry has not been, as the academics say, fatally `marginalized.' '' This both cheers the lover of poetry and enlivens even Lehman's most scholarly writing with a welcomed sense of freshness. Considering A. R. Ammons's innovative use of punctuation, Lehman notes: ``the colon looks both ways before crossing over to the far side of the street.'' John Hollander's mode of allusion ``acts very much like an inspired typo.'' All the more disappointing then are Lehman's occasional professorial crankiness over supposedly dropping standards and his apparent adherence to the canon of poets handed down by academics: Ashbery, Merrill, Bishop. In the rapping, poetry-slamming, small-press world of the '90s, they are only part of poetry's story.

Copyright 1992 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press; First Edition edition (August 15, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0472064835
• ISBN-13: 978-0472064830
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,990,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.