Pinskys conception of the poet as citizennot legislator but somethingbetween town crier parson and fool on the hillgives us hope that thecultivation of a shared... » 

Pinskys conception of the poet as citizennot legislator but somethingbetween town crier parson and fool on the hillgives us hope that thecultivation of a shared memory will in time make us a peopleJonathanGalassiPinskys startlingly original thesisthat democracys contradictorydrive toward monadic individualism and mass conformity is echoed and resolvedin the parallel tension between the solitary practice of poetry and thecollective invocation of its voiceis itself a cultural event of majorsignificance. In showing how poetry by its mimetic embodiment artfullyresists and engages our demotic cultural dilemma he sharply defines the moraland social place of poetry for our times. His model of internal culturalanalysis will inform and delight both poet and reader humanists as well associal scientists. This is perhaps the most important discourse on culturalanalysis by a major poet since Eliots Notes Towards the Definition ofCulture.Orlando Patterson Harvard UniversityRobert Pinsky has produceda fine lean book on a very large topic. With fresh and compelling argumentsPinsky writes that poetry has a significant role to play in a massdemocracythat American poetry has produced extraordinary art and that this genre hastruly engaged with the challenge to traditional art forms raised by democraticrevolutions.Robert von Hallberg University of ChicagoAn importantcontribution to our thinking about the place of poetry in American life. No onecould be more qualified to speak on this subject than Robert Pinsky whocombines extraordinary gifts as a poet critic and public ambassador for theart. The book is full of provocativethought and sharp observations about poemsand responses to poetry.Paul Breslin Northwestern University «