The Resistance to Poetry Book

I think this book has limitations'but since when was perfection the actual soul of perfection? If I find I cannot un-stymie myself from the cultural narrowness, and possible ethnocentricity, of the introduction and the book's basic premise of obscurity as a poetic value, I also find its insistence that poetry is as much about hiding, and obscurity, as being discovered, both romantic and full of faith. While I think it could be skillfully extended to poetry in other sociohistorical/cultural contexts, I'd prefer if Longenbach qualified his beautiful, grand claims as being about American (and largely EuroAmerican) poetry.

Nevertheless, he does an inspiring job of bringing together multiple late-20th century poets like Jorie Graham and Louise Glück, who otherwise don't get equal attention with Pound and Eliot, to make insightful, and beautifully-phrased, observations about this particular genealogy of poetry.