The Castle of Perseverance
Job Opportunities in Contemporary Poetry
(amazon)Thomas M. Disch (View Bio)
Hardcover: University of Michigan Press, 2002.
"A poetry critic of the first rank, novelist and poet Disch takes a look at the contemporary American poetry scene in this collection of essays and reviews. He calls for ‘the disestablishment of poetry workshops as an academic institution,’ arguing that they encourage indolence, smugness and a special sense of entitlement. Disch provides astute takes…along with perceptive critiques." — Publishers Weekly
"There are critics who find something of value in everything they read, but Disch, the author of nearly 30 books of poetry and fiction, isn’t one of these. He hates as prodigiously as he loves. ‘There are simply too many poets and too little time to read them all,’ he writes, and the critic’s job, as he sees it, is to praise and damn in equal measure; otherwise, ‘Gresham’s law is bound to kick in’ and ‘bad poetry will drive out good.’ A lively writer, Disch is guaranteed to provoke." — Library Journal
