ALL: The Collected Short Poems 1956-1964

by Louis Zukofsky ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Some of the other books by this author are entitled ""A"", ""1-12,"" ""It Was,"" and ""I's (pronounced eyes)."" This is pretty fair warning, for the poems in this collection are generally just as cryptic. As, for instance, ""It never pours, it draws/ On St. Valentine's-/ An ocean/ Secret with mines. Magnetic heart-/ Moving shoeshine-/ In the lines of force/of St. Valentine's."" Most of the other poems feature this kind of jerky, mixed imagery, jumbled together without giving any very coherent impression; a sort of kitten-on-the-typewriter-keys effect that presumably is meant to give gay, accidental meanings and doesn't. Instead, the poems too often seem arch, contrived, and obscure in order to hide a lack. But since this author has published some seventeen books, he obviously has an audience and appeals to some tastes.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1966

Categories: NONFICTION