A Poetics
The pieces collected inA Poeticsare remarkable not only for the ever-changing spin they put on language, but also for expanding our sense of the consequences of this rethinking of poetic form(s) in the broadest sense. (Jan PlugL'Esprit Créateur)Charles Bernstein's critical prose is the extension of his increasingly important poetic oeuvre. In their theoretical sophistication, their radical formal construction, and, above all, their great boldness and originality, many of the essays in this book have already become underground classics, providing us with a roadmap for how to come to terms with the verbal/visual art and culture of our own time. Part manifesto, part critique, part stringent analysis,A Poeticscarries on the tradition of Pound'sABC of Readingand Stein'sLectures in America. (Marjorie Perloff, Stanford University)