Promotional Information

The most notorious poet-critic of his generation, William Logan has defined our view of poets good and bad, interesting and banal, for more than three decades. His eloquent, passionate prose never fails to provoke readers and poets, reminding us of the value and vitality of the critic's savage art. Showcasing the corrosive wit and darkly discriminating criticism that have become the trademarks of Logan's style, this volume features essays on Robert Lowell's correspondence, Elizabeth Bishop's unfinished poems, the inflated reputation of Hart Crane, the loss of the New Critics, and a damning and highly controversial indictment of an edition of Robert Frost's notebooks. Logan also includes essays on Derek Walcott and Geoffrey Hill, two crucial figures in the divided world of contemporary poetry, and an attempt to rescue the reputation of the nineteenth-century poet John Townsend Trowbridge. Short reviews consider John Ashbery, Anne Carson, Billy Collins, Rita Dove, Louise Gluck, Jorie Graham, Robert Hass, Seamus Heaney, and dozens of others. Though he might be called a cobra with manners, Logan is a fervent advocate for poetry, and Our Savage Art continues to raise the standard of what the critic can do.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments The Bowl of Diogenes; or, The End of Criticism Verse Chronicle: Out on the Lawn Verse Chronicle: Stouthearted Men The Most Contemptible Moth: Lowell in Letters Forward Into the Past: Reading the New Critics Verse Chronicle: One If by Land Verse Chronicle: The Great American Desert The State with the Prettiest Name Elizabeth Bishop Unfinished Elizabeth Bishop's Sullen Art Verse Chronicle: Jumping the Shark Verse Chronicle: Victoria's Secret Attack of the Anthologists The Lost World of Lawrence Durrell Hart Crane Overboard On Reviewing Hart Crane The Endless Ocean of Derek Walcott The Civil Power of Geoffrey Hill Verse Chronicle: God's Chatter Verse Chronicle: Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Luff Pynchon in the Poetic Back to the Future (Thomas Pynchon ) Verse Chronicle: The World Is Too Much with Us Verse Chronicle: Valentine's Day Massacre The Forgotten Masterpiece of John Townsend Trowbridge Frost at Midnight Interview by Garrick Davis Permissions Books Under Review Index of Authors Reviewed

About the Author

William Logan is the author of nine volumes of poetry and five books of criticism, including The Undiscovered Country, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism. He has received the Randall Jarrell Award in Poetry Criticism from the Poetry Foundation, as well as the Citation for Excellence in Reviewing from the National Book Critics Circle, the Corrington Medal for Literary Excellence, and numerous awards for his poetry. He teaches at the University of Florida.

Reviews

There is a grain of truth in almost everything [Logan] writes. -- Jordan Davis Times Literary Supplement Logan's prose is polished, witty, authoritative, and courageous... Highly recommended. Choice The latest installment in William Logan's prolonged and rambunctious assault on the state of American poetry. -- Mark Ford New York Times Book Review One of the wittiest and most astute poet-critics of our-or any-generation... A work of devilish wit, arrogance, insight, and intellect.The Dark Horse -- Rory Waterman The Dark Horse Who's the Best Poetry Critic in America? His name I can mention. William Logan. -- James Wolcott Arguably the most industrious and notorious poet-critic to brandish that hyphen like a knife between his teeth since his acknowledged master Randall Jarrell... He often comes off as nothing so much as the Dirty Harry of the poetry beat. -- David Barber, New York Times Book Review