Customer Reviews

Source Codes (Salt Modern Poets S.)

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There's skill here, but no heart. Just a poet who knows her intelligence and cleverness but's blocked. If you wrung out the soul from Ashberry, you'd have Wheeler. There's a poet in New England, Bill Knott, who is far more dextrous than Wheeler; he writes similarly, but the reader feels and laughs. Knott is a dazzler. But not Ms. Wheeler.

This book was lent to me by a friend who reads a good deal of poetry. I couldn't believe how bad it was. There is no sense whatsoever of the poet trying to communicate with anyone. To put it bluntly the book is self-indulgent and solipsistic. No wonder there is such a small readership for much of what passes for poetry. By the way I do not spend my evenings reading Longfellow and Emerson. I do read contemporary fiction and poetry. I am not one of those who say that if it doesn't rhyme it isnt poetry... but I draw the line at such self regarding work. Susan wheeler needs to get over her John Ashbury phase and think again. A book which I gave back to my friend with much relief.

This book of poems is really cool. Susan Wheeler is intelligent and real. I can relate to the language and images she uses to propel her poems, poems that show me the world, show me myself. This book I picked up expecting to read one or two poems, but ended up reading it straight through one morning. It's odd that you can actually buy this kind of pleasure.

There's got to more to poetry that this. There's just got to be.

In reference to "a reader in ny"'s (what is the proper punctuation there?) "shiny & shallow" I take exception. I'm also a great fan of the poet Bill Knott. He's brilliant. And yes I do see crossover between Knott and Wheeler. But although they're both wildly clever, the territory is simply different which makes any comparison between the two poets invalid. Knott is a sufferer--and God bless sufferers. Wheeler is an observer--(I don't know if God blesses observers, but theological considerations are not necessary to this review). In her own oddly guarded, controlled and quite imaginative way, Wheeler's telling us what she sees. May both poets reign. May ALL poets reign.

Susan Wheeler is one of our most interesting and innovative poets. Her latest book is an amazing series of imitations (of Robert Frost's "Provide, Provide"), meditations, character studies (for a novel Wheeler is writing), sonnets, fragments, chain poems, retellings (of a children's record from the `50s), cut-ups, memories, etc. "Source Codes" is illustrated with a number of Wheeler's provocative postcard collages (there was a show of her postcards here in New York a few years ago) and includes several appendixes of fascinating worksheets. I couldn't put this one down. It's as if Wheeler has invented a new way to write a book of poems, and I marveled at it all the way through.

...You can't argue with success: Wheeler is a real poet and Knott is not. Her two books are worth more than all his put together. Don't argue with the Poetry Establishment.