Charles Bernstein is our postmodern jester of American poesy,
equal part surveyor of democratic vistas and scholar of avant-garde
sensibilities. In a career spanning thirty-five years and forty
books, he has challenged and provoked us with writing that is
decidedly unafraid of the tensions between ordinary and poetic
language, and between everyday life and its adversaries. "Attack of
the Difficult Poems," his latest collection of essays, gathers some
of his most memorably irreverent work while addressing seriously
and comprehensively the state of contemporary humanities, the
teaching of unconventional forms, fresh approaches to translation,
the history of language media, and the connections between poetry
and visual art.
Applying an array of essayistic styles, "Attack of the Difficult
Poems "ardently engages with the promise of its title. Bernstein
introduces his key theme of the difficulty of poems and defends,
often in comedic ways, not just difficult poetry but poetry itself.
Bernstein never loses his ingenious ability to argue or his
consummate attention to detail. Along the way, he offers a
wide-ranging critique of literature's place in the academy, taking
on the vexed role of innovation and approaching it from the
perspective of both teacher and practitioner.
From blues artists to Tin Pan Alley song lyricists to Second
Wave modernist poets, "The Attack of the Difficult Poems "sounds
both a battle cry and a lament for the task of the language maker
and the fate of invention.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!