Offering an account of 40 years of American poetry, the author argues that the work of Robert Lowell and those who followed his reflective style should not now be viewed as a "breakthrough" narrative, due to changing concepts of what constitutes modernism and the over-use of the term "post-modern".
Robert Lowell and many who followed in his personal, reflective style, such as John Berryman, W.S. Merwin and Adrienne Rich, have been seen as breaking with the influence of T.S. Eliot and the New Critics. But as Jim Longenbach notes in his new book, this "breakthrough" narrative no longer makes good sense, due to our changing conceptions of what constitutes modernism and its New Critical values, and the now-ubiquitous use of the term "post-modern". Longenbach's new book offers a wide-ranging account of the past 40 years of American poetry and allows for fuller appreciation of women poets.
This authoritative book should be read by anyone interested in contemporary US poetry.
