Title: The muse of abandonment
Subtitle: origin, identity, mastery, in five American poets
Description: The Muse of Abandonment examines personal and cultural forms of abandonment in the poetry of Charles Wright, Russell Edson, Jean Valentine, James Tate, and Louise Gluck. These poets register the tremors of the post-modern exhaustion of universals and a conflicted desire for authenticating presences.

The first book to study these poets as members of a generation, The Muse of Abandonment analyses the poets' recasting of confessional and surrealistic legacies and discusses their reflections on coercion of thought and behavior, and an atmosphere in contemporary culture that would trivialize private sensibility.
Subjects: Criticism and interpretation, Power (Social sciences) in literature, Liberty in literature, History and criticism, Jean Valentine, American poetry, Alienation (Social psychology) in literature, Russell Edson, Identity (Psychology) in literature, Entfremdung, Identität, American poetry, history and criticism, 20th century
People: Charles Wright (1935-), Louise Glück (1943-), James Tate (1943-)
Time periods: 20th century