Familiar spirits Book

Good to read if only to go back and look at Merrill's poems again. And to think again about "Changing Light at Sandhover" and all that Ouija board stuff. And she makes a strong point about the effect of this assault on the ineffable, how it becomes another example of artistic self-destruction. On the very last page, she asks, "How much should one risk for art?" And she definitely implies that Merrill and Jackson risked too much.

There is an unspoken irony here that Lurie might not even realize, and that is that Merrill is already on his way to being forgotten. I'm not sure I've heard anyone under 60 even mention him in years. Certainly the young writers aren't reading him, not even the young gay writers. Perhaps he'll have his moment in the sun again, and then Lurie's book might end up being useful in its small way.