Twenty Questions

In <strong>Twenty Questions</strong> one of Americas finest poetcritics leads readers intothe mysteries of poetry how it draws on our lives and how it leads us ... » 

In Twenty Questions one of Americas finest poetcritics leads readers intothe mysteries of poetry how it draws on our lives and how it leads us backinto them. In a series of linked essays progressing from the autobiographicalto the critical and closing with a remarkable translation of Horaces ArsPoetica unavailable elsewhere J. D. McClatchys latest book offers anintimate and illuminating look into the poetic mind.McClatchy begins with a portrait of his development as a poet and as a man andprovides vibrant details about some of those who helped shape his sensibility from Anne Sexton in her final days to Harold Bloom his enigmatic teacher atYale to James Merrill a wise and witty mentor. All of these glimpses intoMcClatchys personal history enhance our understanding of a coming of age fromingenious reader to accomplished poetcritic.Later sections range through poetry past and present from Emily Dickinson toSeamus Heaney and W. S. Merwin with incisive criticism generouslyinterspersed with vivid anecdotes about McClatchys encounters with otherpoets lives and work. A critical unpacking of Alexander Popes Epistle toMiss Blount is interwoven with compassionate psychological portrait of abrilliant poet plagued by both romantic longings and debilitating physicaldeformities. There are surprising takes on the literary imagination as well alook at Elizabeth Bishop through her letters and a tribute to the Broadwaylyrics of Stephen Sondheim and the tradition of light verse.The questions McClatchy poses of poems prompt a fresh look and the last word.Free of scholarly pretension elegantly and movingly written Twenty Questionsis a bright open window onto a public and private experience of poetry to beappreciated by poets readers and critics alike. «