Irish-American Books

This book (the first volume) is over 600 pages. And they are 600 pages chock full of intelligent analyses and overviews of all the poetic schools in Britian and the US since the 1890s. This book is fascinating in its content and a joy to read because of Perkins' clear and humane style. It is amazing that one person can know so much. But don't let that intimidate you. This book will do wonders for your working knowledge of American and British poetry.

David Perkins's "History of Modern Poetry" gives the reader the essentials of the modernist movement, from its beginnings as a reaction against the outworn Romantic era to the poetry of Ashbery, Ammons, and Merrill in our own age. Brevity is a virtue here: Perkins states the essentials of a poet's life only and so escapes the common error of overinterpretation which most critics commit. The series also pays attention to minor poets who do not rank highly today and past movements in journals and anthology editing so as to provide us with a complete picture of what the past century of poetry has consisted. Highly recommended.

David Perkins's "History of Modern Poetry" gives the reader the essentials of the modernist movement, from its beginnings as a reaction against the outworn Romantic era to the poetry of Ashbery, Ammons, and Merrill in our own age. Brevity is a virtue here: Perkins states the essentials of a poet's life only and so escapes the common error of overinterpretation which most critics commit. The series also pays attention to minor poets who do not rank highly today and past movements in journals and anthology editing so as to provide us with a complete picture of what the past century of poetry has consisted. Highly recommended.

I love poetry. Books like "History of Modern Poetry: Modernism and After" fill my bookshelves. I eat this stuff up. But one thing a lot of poetry books do is mush up the sense of it all in the hope of appealing to the academics. Since most regularly published poets are professors in English departments, it works out, but it creates a great divide between the laity and the academic.

What David Perkins has done is explain the basic chronology of poets periods. This is neither an encyclopedia of terms nor an anthology of great poems. Instead, Perkins takes a period, affiliates the poets major within that period and explains their context and importance.

He keeps it simple without talking down to the reader.

Essentially, it is a collection of intelligent essays. Some are topical, like "The Postwar Period" while others are poet-specific, like "W. H. Auden."

Perkins writes clearly. It isn't trying to impress you, but he is trying to help you understand Eliot and onward.

I read it for personal growth, but it would make a solid textbook, in tandem with Perkins' other volume covering the previous eras.

I fully recommend "History of Modern Poetry: Modernism and After" by David Perkins.

Anthony Trendl

I had this book recommended to me by someone in one of my genealogical mailing lists.

I highly recommend it.

There is much to be written about the Irish in Philadelphia and this book certainly goes into great detail about the emigrants. It tells the conditions of the city, famillies and how they lived, worked, died. I have read it several times and will read it again and again.

A family member in Northern Ireland picked up my book and read bits of it while visiting. I was asked to get a copy for them to take back to Ireland as they wanted to know more about the emigrants and their lives after they left the old country.

This was a very informative book about how the Irish in Philadelphia affected the city, and how the old establishment of the city was able to keep the Philadlephia Irish from gaining the same political power as those from New York and Boston. It is not a very easy read, due to the fact that it contains many facts and figures, but is nonetheless a very informative work about the forgotten Irish-Americans of Philadelphia, and why they were forgotten.

The thing I most liked most about this book was that the author went into detail about the conditions of life in Ireland for these people. Whether they came before the famine or after, these folks didn't just get off the boat and become Americans. They brought with them a rich culture and way of life. If you are Irish and from Philadelphia, this book will mean something to you.

I originally purchased this book in a sales bin at Barnes and Nobles and I have to say once I started it, it was a fight to put it down, even to eat. The first story, Galaway Bay, was so touching to me I cried all night. The other stories were written with talent and grace. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants emotion from a book.

This book will not appeal to everyone and is reviewed in the context of the intended audience. It is a collection of four novelettes by master storytellers. The first story, "Galway Bay" by Morgan Llywelan, is a change of pace for readers familiar with her full length historical novels. It is set in modern times, and concerns a part-Irish woman on vacation in Galway, Ireland, who encounters the underlying realities of Irish folklore and discovers romance in an unexpected place. The second story, "The Harpers's Daughter" by Barbara Samuel, is set in ancient Ireland and concerns Deirdre, destined to be the bride of a king, but she loves another. Expressed in Deirdre's thoughts (about other women in the king's court), "One of them, one day, would have the warrior who'd snared her heart, while she would lie with the fat, old king. It wasn't fair." Deirdre is cursed with extraordinary beauty that creates uncontrolled lust in the minds of any men who see her. Can she find a refuge with the man she loves, and will magic protect them? The third and fourth stories deal with connections to the spirit world in an ancient Irish setting. The third, "The Trysting Hour" by Susan Wiggs, is about a spirit that can assume a mortal man's shape, and who desires a woman meant to be a king's wife. Can he win her hand while he prevents the king from consumating the marriage? And is she really an ordinary mortal woman? The fourth, "Rarer than a White Crow" by Roberta Gellis, has a man placed under a spell by a shape-changing witch with her own agenda (which can only be guessed at). People are at an interface between the spirit world and the mortal world. Angus must win the hand of Caer and love her til the end of her days in order to be free from the spell, but that is easier said than done. Can they thwart the real agenda of the witch? The book contains explicit sex and violence. It is an excellent set of stories for those interested in this type of fantasy romance.

Wonderful stories of magic, romance, and irish lore. If you like to curl up at night with a short story, this is a great book for you. I was delighted with this book and with Irish Magic II.

when you're in the mood for some short whistful escapist romantic stories in a celtic setting, pick up this one. good for a rainy sunday afternoon.

Primary sources the plenty with this book. The text might be too advanced for an elementary classroom but that doesn't matter because the foldouts and pictures that come with it accurately describe life then. Seriously buy this book, you can use it in so many ways or even if you are just interested in history.

I love this book! I first saw it several years ago but didn't have the money to buy it. Then I wished later I had bought it (this was before Amazon came along). Thank goodness for Amazon because now I have this wonderful book! It's an "interactive" book, with pull-outs like a sample of what a letter from Ireland to the US was like, and a sample of a ticket at Ellis Island. That sort of thing. It's interesting! All Celtophiles should have this book!

The book is a treasure. The love and care are evident in its making with all the little nooks and crannies filled with surprises for the reader. The authors return to you more than poetry and information, they surprise you with gifts on just about every page. Delightful.

This is a great book to get for yourself or for anyone interested in a quick but very compelling read about the history of immigration from Ireland to America. I'd particularly recommend it for young readers, as it contains a wide assortment of compelling pull-out letters and other "souvenirs" showing everyday items from and about those brave immigrants who left behind their homeland, its poverty, and starvation for a more hopeful (though far from easy) life in America.

This is the best introduction to English history for American students of English literature. Adams is clearly a very gifted teacher. He conveys very difficult and complex historical issues with amazing brevity and surprisingly little bias.

The book is intended to serve as a propadeutic for students of literature and it is by far the best of its kind available. What Adams selects from history is designed to accompany the Norton Anthology. It is like reading a professor's series of notes for lectures but designed specifically to help the student who wants to think about particular literary pieces within historical contexts. Adams gives just enough historical fact to make the literature come alive. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to undergraduates and even grad students who need to refresh.

Most entertaining is Adams's sense of humor and the text is dotted with little places where the reader will laugh aloud. The footnotes are helpful and suggestive, the design of the chapters and their titles easily assist comprehension and a sense of sequence and order. Reading the book thoroughly and attentively will help any student develop context and hopefully write better papers. If you don't have this book and you are a student of English literature, find a way to get it.

This book is an excellent overview of British history prior to 1950 or so. Think of it as a combination "British history for dummies" and detailed time-line of events and literature. Literature and history are undeniably intertwined in real life, and this book reflects that remarkably well. It does talk about literature in detail, but this book is probably better for history buffs or as a companion to a literature book.

Portions of this book are in my British Literature II book. The various things covered include medieval & modern coinage and titles for the peerage -- both chapters are very informative and well-written. Those two chapters alone make this a good buy for anyone who needs resources on Britain. Writers who place their fictional worlds in historic times and fantasy ought to find this a valuable investment.

Beginning with a physical description of the British Isles, touching lightly on the earliest cultures of man indigenous to the region, Adams's story really begins with the coming of the Germanic, fairhaired Celts sometime in the 1,000 years before Christ. Britain's literature begins with its myths and legends. This book is an entertaining outline of English history as the background of its literature.

About the legends of Ireland, for example, Adams writes, "There are a great many more stories than the 'Ulster cycle" of Celtic legend, and there is another entire cycle of primitive stories from the south of Ireland, dealing with Finn MacCool, his trusty band of Fenian comrades, and his son the warrior-poet Ossian. Readers of Yeats and Joyce will recognize, again and again, in the characters and episodes of ancient Irish legend, the origins of persons and events, as well as the point of hundreds of allusions, in these modern writers."

Adams does not pretend to write a comprehensive book without prejudice. "There are two long stories to tell," he writes, " and very little space to tell them, other elements of the background must be treated only intermittently...I make no apology for having introduced my own enthusiasms into the literary commentary." After all, it IS his book. He gets to choose what to say and how to say it. It's well that he doesn't apologize because his "enthusiasms" are what makes the book readable and delightful.

This isn't an anthology -- the reader will have to track down copies of works but there's a bibliography and references to writers and their publications are plentiful. He doesn't confine himself to just the well-known literary works, but offers examples of lesser-known works, as well.

This is reading that will give you insight into your travels as well as suggest fascinating new books that will challenge you to see modern writing in a new light. It's an additional perspective on English literature that you'll enjoy pursuing.

Plenty of books have been written on Irish-American history both locally and nation-wide, but MAKING THE IRISH AMERICAN holds a difference: it's nearly thirty perspectives on the process of the Irish in America and blends original research with reprints of classic analyses, making for a thoughtful set of essays and articles which survey Irish-American history in context of the overall immigrant experience. Any college-level holding strong in ethnic studies or American history will find this an outstanding compilation, highly recommended as a basic collection addition.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Of the 29 articles, nine have been previously published; one in 1963, another in 1988, and the others in the past seven or so years. Some authors are widely-known--Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Pete Hamill, Calvin Trillin; while the others are steeped in Irish traditions from heritage and academic or other professional positions. The collected articles are crossovers between popular interest and academic perspective. Most combine popular subjects and approach with historical documentation or data. Within major sections on Irish-American foundations and identity are articles on sports, music, religion, organizations, and the role of notably, in some cases somewhat stereotypical, Irish figures such as domestics known as "biddies" or firemen in Irish-American assimilation and as representative of Irish-Americans in general. For the astute editorial selection of the number of general and somewhat specialized articles, expertise of the authors, and documentation in articles and appendices plus notes and bibliographies, "Making the Irish American" is a major text tying together this field of ethnic studies with American history and social history.

I got this book for my Irish-American dad for his birthday and it turned out to be the perfect pick-- for both of us. The chapters from the various contributors covered a large range of topics within Irish-American history and really got both of us interested in our Irish-American heritage.

My dad went straight to the highly accessible accounts of the Irish in American music, literature, entertainment, and particularly sports, but said he was most appreciative of the "Reflections" section's pieces by Pete Hamill, Calvin Trillin, and Peter Quinn, etc. He's yet to read the rest of the chapters, but he says he's enjoyed what he's read so much he's all the more inclined to read the rest of this 700-page giant book.

I had a different angle approaching the book: I started reading front-to-back and got a more academic experience. The intro to Irish history at the start really cleared up lots of holes in my knowledge of Irish history. The opening essays are more academic and I really appreciated them for their depth and obvious scholarship behind them.

Neither my father or I are done with the book, particularly since we're sharing it and it's so long, but I wanted to suggest the book to people looking to read engaging essays on Irish-American history.

I would highly suggest it to anyone else trying to find a gift for a relative of Irish-American descent, though obviously anyone interested in Irish-American history should get a lot out of this volume.

Here is the table of contents for Making the Irish American:



1. Introduction: Interpreting Irish America by J.J. Lee, p.1-60



The Irish Background

2. Modern Ireland: An Introductory Survey by Eileen Reilly, p. 63-147



Foundations

3. Scots Irish or Scotch-Irish by David Noel Doyle, p. 151-170

4. The Irish in North America, 1776-1845 by David Noel Doyle, p. 171-212

5. The Remaking of Irish America, 1845-1880, p. 213-252



Conflicts of Identity

6. Ulster Presbyterians and the Two Traditions in Ireland and America by Kerby Miller, p. 255-270

7. Religious Rivalry and the Making of Irish-American Identity by Irene Whelan, p. 271-285

8. Address to the Ulster-Irish Society of New York, 1939 by Henry Noble MacCracken, p. 286-288

9. American-Irish Nationalism by Kevin Kenny, p. 289-301

10. Refractive History: Memory and the Founders of the Emigrant Savings Bank by Marion R. Casey, p. 302-331

11. Ubiquitous Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930, p. 332-253

12. Labor and Labor Organizations by Kevin Kenny, p. 354-363

13. Race, Violence, and Anti-Irish Sentiment in the Nineteenth Century by Kevin Kenny, p. 364-378



Popular Expressions of Identity

14. Irish-American Popular Music by Mick Moloney, p.381-405

15. The Irish in Vaudeville by Robert W. Snyder, p. 406-410

16. Irish Traditional Music in the United States by Rebecca S. Miller, p.411-416

17. Before Riverdance: A Brief History of Irish Step Dancing in America by Marion R. Casey, p. 417-425

18. Irish-American Festivals by Mick Moloney, p. 426-442

19. Irish Americans in Sports: The Nineteenth Century by Ralph Wilcox, p. 443-456

20. Irish American in Sports: The Twentieth Century by Larry McCarthy, p. 457-471



Reflections

21. The Irish (1963, 1970) by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, p. 475-525

22. Once We Were Kings (1999) by Pete Hamill, p. 526-534

23. Democracy in Action (1988) by Calvin Trillin, p. 535-547

24. Irish America, 1940-2000 by Linda Dowling Almeida, p. 548-573

25. Twentieth-Century American Catholicism and Irish Americas by Thomas J. Shelley, p. 574-608

26. The Fireman on the Stairs: Communal Loyalties in the Making of Irish America by Timothy J. Meagher, p. 609-648

27. The Tradition of Irish-American Writers: The Twentieth Century by Daniel J. Casey and Robert E. Rhodes, p. 649-662

28. Looking for Jimmy (1999) by Peter Quinn, p. 663-679

29. The Future of Irish America (2000) by Peter Quinn p. 680-685



Appendix: The Irish in the Census: An Explanatory Note

Contributors

Permissions

Index

Kearns has picked works, both known and those lost on the dusty shelves of libraries,of one of the most underrepresented group of authors: Irish women. The extra dynamic of the subject of mothers is an interesting addition. Her collection gives a very good range of works available; her personal essay is quite touching. Both "Cabbage and Bones" and "Motherland" deserve a place on any shelves!

Caledonia Kearns follows up her ground-breaking anthology of Irish American women writers,CABBAGE AND BONES, with another wonderful volume. I laughed aloud at Jean Kerr and Martha Manning and cried at more than one other,incuding Kearns' own essay. A great gift for any time,but especially for Mother's Day.

Neither I nor my mother are of Irish descent, but I found I could relate to a bit of every story in this precious book. I am going to buy it as gifts for my sister and my mother and will definitely recommend it to everyone I know. Even my husband enjoyed this treasure of stories and said he could relate to it. It is one of the very best collections of life stories I have ever come across. It touched my heart and soul as well as stimulated my mind and brought back forgotten memories, both tender and bittersweet. I sat in my chair for a long time after I read it, reflecting on the emotions it had stirred, and am sure it will affect many readers that way. I can now see how, in so many ways, I am indeed very much like my mother. Not just in imitative words and deeds, but in that abstract, deeply seeded manner of heart and self that I just cannot explain in a mere sentence or two. Anyone who reads Motherland will understand. That makes this book more subtly astounding than any amount of 'stars' I could attach to it. My sincere thanks to Caledonia Kearns!!

A must read for all Irish women. Especially endearing was the story called "Trinity" written by Kerry Herlihy. A moving book.

This book was give to my father - a retired Pastor for Christmas this year and it was his favorite present he received. He often ended his sermons with a poem of Amy's and he was appreciative of reading these and learning more the depty of her writings. Very good.

If you're looking for strong Christian poetry that isn't sappy or self-pitying, that doesn't dwell on the situation but stands on the vital life-giving truths of the Word of God, this is it. She writes from places of sadness, sorrow, loss, confusion, sickness, and always stands to praise and worship the only true and worthy One. She is unabashed in her Christianity, she doesn't try to turn poetry into a romantic ode, she looks worldly reality right in the eye, calls it what it is, then looks at the higher spiritual reality and casts down all imaginations that would cause fear or dread. Bracing.

My only complaint is that its paperback, because this is the kind of book that I don't think I'll ever stop opening. Perhaps I'll get it rebound or something.

It is a sad fact that many of Amy Carmichael's most moving poems are now found only in volumes long out of print. To remedy this situation is one of the goals of this publication. To make more accessible the many bits of poetry - usually untitled in situ - scattered throughout her various works of prose is another. But above all, we the editors wish to more adequtely display both the depth and breath of her saintly insights. For though they span nearly 55 years of her remarkable life, they are timeless.

Some of these 568 poems may strike the careful reader as (to use Amy's words) "not perfected" - but we are convinced they are a mere minority. (Can every sentiment of even the greatest muse be graded above average?) Most of her verses we find to be not only mature but truly discerning and stirring to the spirit. Some we regard as genuine masterpieces, both as to form and content - and we trust you come to the same conclusion.

Much effort has been taken to title the poems and to group them by theme, so as to increase their helpfulness to the heart yearning for a closer walk with Christ. Accordingly, we have divided them under seven major heads: Worship, Petition, Surrender, Ministry, Wartime, Encouragement, and Yourthful Thoughts. Many of the poems, of course, overflow the bounds of their designated category - for who can contain the zephyrs which sweep refreshingly across a mountanous terrain? And such are these "mountain breezes."

It is our desire and hope that the Spirit who moved the heart of His servant to express herself in these vibrant stanzas will captivate your heart and mind also as you enter into the cascade of these inspring minds.
Robert Delancy
Elmor Rogers
Joann Longton
---from book's Preface

Doing research on the Irish Brigade for some writing, This book was just what I needed.

William McCarter was a twenty-one year old Irish immigrant when he enlisted in the 116th Pennsylvania Infantry in August 1862. The unit soon became part of the Second Brigade, First Division, Second Corps, Army of the Potomac, better known as the fabled Irish Brigade and Carter's memoirs, "My Life in the Irish Brigade" has the distinction of being the first full-length memoir published by an enlisted man in the Irish Brigade. McCarter's account covers the brigade from the Seven Day's Battles in which it made its battlefield reputation, to its assault against the Bloody Lane at Antietam, to the charge up Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg where McCarter was gravely wounded and forced to leave the army. Because he was detailed as the personal scribe to General Thomas F. Meagher, commander of the Irish Brigade, McCarter was able to meet and judge the famous generals of the Union Army such as Ambrose Burnside and Winfield Scott Hancock. Kevin E. O'Brien, who has written widely on the Irish Brigade, edits the volume and in addition to his Endnotes he has included several interesting items in the Appendixes, such as the poem "The Irish Dead on Fredericksburg Heights" which was printed in the "Irish-American" in 1863. McCarter's recollections are quite engaging, and his description of the Brigade's actions at the fateful battle of Fredericksburg, where the vast majority of its 1,200 men were killed or wounded, is the best part of the book. If you have more than a passing familiarity with the history of the Irish Brigade, this is an excellent book to give you a unique and fascinating perspective on their glory days during the Civil War. It is also one of the better written memoirs, by enlisted man or general, you will find.

William McCarter's book is quite an interesting tale of his involvment as a private for the famous Irish Brigade. McCarter's vivid descriptions of soldier life, marching, camping, facing cold weather, hard living and the Battle of Fredericksburg was very well done. McCarter missed Antietam although his regiment did face the Confederates at the heights of Fredericksburg. McCarter tells such a facinating, informative, sad, happy, yet chilling story at times during his soldier career that it was hard to put this book down. His vivid story of Fredericksburg and how the brigade battled it out, how he was injured and how he escaped death while suffering upon the battlefield was certainly the best part of the book. I wish more soldier accounts were written as well as this one as this book is one of the better books I've read that tells a soldier's story. 5 STARS!

The Civil War has always been of great interest to me. Consequently, when I find a book that tells of real-life experiences coming directly from the pen of the man who experienced the things he wrote about, I am automatically interested. Private McCarter wrote candidly of what he witnessed, felt and thought while in the Irish Brigade. His book is easy to understand and evokes vivid mental pictures of the scenes he describes. He seemed to be an educated, good-hearted man who, if he was alive today, I would love to meet.

This book is much smaller than I thought it would be, but this only enhances its gem-like charm; from its rich cover to its finely homespun interior. I thought at first I had heard it all before from Ashbery, in his short Schubert and Roussel essays, and in comments dropped in Reported Sightings; but even when covering the same ground he subtly brings forth new worlds. It's refreshing to hear him talk of these beloved poets, like a tour through the comfortable rooms of his mind, which of course also offers countless insights into Ashbery's own career of poetic journeys. I recommend this book to both literary scavengers of the past and arcane poets of the future, but especially to the intriguing combination of both living a dream right now.

Instead of offering predictable comments on well-known poets, John Ashbery has chosen to explain his preference for seemingly eccentric figures like John Clare and Raymond Roussel. While Ashbery is a difficult poet, his prose is reader-friendly; this book, then, provides insight into Ashbery's own unique poetic sensibility, as well as into the poets and writers he has chosen.

This book provokes thought about issues of literary value. Why does Ashbery find supposedly "minor" figures more inspiring of his own writing? Are his arguments for the value of these figures ultimately convincing? Do marginality and eccentricity have an intrinsic value for him? Before reading this book I did know something about Laura Riding, Raymond Roussel, and John Clare; the other writers came as revelations to me. I am not convinced that every figure treated is of equal interest, but I am fascinated by Ashbery's own responses to these practically unknown "cult authors."

Here are six essays by John Ashbery about six of his favourite minor poets, ranging from John Clare, born in 1790s England, to David Schubert, born 1913 in New York. John Brooks Wheelwright and Laura Riding are included, from the early 20th century, as is Raymond Roussel (a French precursor to anti-novelists, a specialist in parenthetical labyrinths, and endlessly detailed descriptions of bottle-labels). We have, too, the doomed author of "Death's Jest Book," the 19th-century poet Thomas Lovell Beddoes.

These essays are engaging and readable, informed and informative without being pedantic. There are anecdotes, too (about Riding, most notably, who is aptly diagnosed by Ashbery as "a control freak"). We notice that half of the authors are homosexual or possibly so, most either committed suicide or had a parent who did so, three were affected by mental problems, and the majority were ardent leftists (Riding being an exception).

To this reader, the two Johns, Clare and Wheelwright, are the most immediately endearing, and David Schubert's disjunctive colloquial tone does fascinate. Some of the comments about the gang of six do shed some light into Ashbery's curious methods: Clare's mucky down-to-earthiness and Beddoes' elegant, enamelled "fleurs-du-mal" idiom both being "necessary" components of poetry, in Ashbery's view. Some of Wheelwright's elastic sonnets have a Saturday Evening Post-type folksiness that is often found in Ashbery's own poetic inventions; Schubert's poems (in Rachel Hadas's words) "seem(ing) to consist of slivers gracefully or haphazardly fitted together." An aside: Look at the first two lines of Schubert's "Happy Traveller." Couldn't that be John Ashbery? About Raymond Roussel, whose detractors accuse him of saying nothing, Ashbery mounts an impatient defence that reads like a self-defence: "If 'nothing' means a labyrinth of brilliant stories told only for themselves, then perhaps Roussel has nothing to say. Does he say it badly? Well, he writes like a mathematician."

We learn that Ashbery is not fond of E E Cummings, and he is unconvincingly semi-penitent of this "blind spot": Cummings, with his Herrick-like lucidity, his straightforward heterosexuality, and his resolute nonleftism, would not appear to fit nicely into Ashbery's pantheon. Ashbery even takes a few mischievous swipes at John Keats -- rather, he quotes George Moore doing so. Ashbery will doubtless forgive his readers if our enthusiasm for the poetry of Keats and Cummings remains undiminished.

There is much in the poetry explored by "Other Traditions" that is dark and bothersome; but there are felicities. These lectures form a fascinating kind of ars-poetica-in-prose by one of America's cleverest and most vexing of poets.

Every once in a while, I come across a book that opens up new doors for me. They introduce to me to areas of life that I otherwise might never have encountered. Other Traditions by John Ashbery is just such a book.

I have always had a love for, but limited knowledge of, Poetry. It was Edward Hirsch's great book How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry that first introduced me to Ashbery's work. He is, in my opinion, one of the greatest living poets. Therefore, I jumped at the opportunity to read Other Traditions.

Other Traditions is the book form of a series of lectures given by Ashbery on other poets. Ashbery writes about six of the lesser-known artists who have had an impact on his own life and work. All of them are fascinating. They are:

-John Clare, a master at describing nature who spent the last 27 years of his life in an Asylum.

-Thomas Lovell Beddoes, a rather death obsessed author (he ended up taking his own life) whose greatest poetry consists of fragments that must often be culled from the pages of his lengthy dramas.

-Raymond Roussel, a French author whose magnum opus is actually a book-length sentence.

-John Wheelwright, a politically engaged genius whose ultra-dense poetry even Ashbery has a hard time describing or comprehending.

-Laura Riding, a poet of great talent and intellect who chose to forsake poetry (check out the copyright page).

-David Schubert, an obscure poet who Ashbery feels is one of the greatest of the Twentieth Century.

The two that I was most pleasantly surprised by are Clare and Riding.

Clare has become (since I picked up a couple of his books) one of my favorite poets. He is a master at describing rural life. I know of no one quite like him. Ashbery's true greatness as a critic comes out when he depicts Clare as "making his rounds."

Riding, on the other hand, represents the extreme version of every author's desire for the public to read their work in a precise way--the way the author intends it to be read. Her intense combativeness and sensitivity to criticism is as endearing as it is humorous.

Other Traditions has given me a key to a whole new world of books. For that I am most grateful.

I give this book my full recommendation.