Douglas-- you said:
> But I am now 80 pages into Keith Tuma's book and it is a feast.
> Everybody should get hold of a copy. But I am a bit puzzled about
> his complete confidence in the superiority of American poetry
I simply want to note for the record that this is precisely the opposite of
the book's thesis: it's about how American readers have _failed_ to listen
to British poetry, and trying to show that they _should_. Do reread the
opening chapter--I'll admit the opening gambit is risky: "In the United
States, British poetry is dead." But you're taking it in the wrong way, &
I thought I'd correct this as a matter of public record. I think _Fishing_
an important book, for both American and UK readers.
If you want KT's view of James Tate (not, I gather, terribly positive), try
his excellent piece on Bernstein's _Close Listening_ in the latest
_Modernism/Modernity_, which starts off with an account of a Tate/Ashbery
reading in Cambridge a while back.
enough for the moment--I seem to have caught the posting-bug after a period
of quiescence.
N
Nate & Jane Dorward
[log in to unmask]
109 Hounslow Ave., Willowdale, ON, M2N 2B1, Canada
ph: (416) 221 6865
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