Jeremy advised me to stay out of this, and probably I should. My intention was not to participate in the thread, apart from drawing attention to the review. But with the turn the discussion has taken, I feel the need to speak up.
Jeremy read Bob’s book with a lot of enthusiasm, and he was surprised that a debut so accomplished wasn’t being reviewed. He wanted to remedy that, and the main focus of the review is on the book’s considerable strengths. He had, however, to take account in some way of “Millay’s Child.” It’s difficult for me to imagine a review that would pass it over unmentioned. It’s a provocative poem, about one of the hottest-button subjects going. As such, it was bound to stand out and to elicit strong reactions, pro and con. Jeremy’s own reaction was in the latter category, and he described it candidly. He would not be a responsible reviewer, in my opinion, had he done otherwise.
Thorough, thoughtful, sympathetic yet critical reviews of poetry books are rare. Usually, as we all know, the best a poet can hope for is a paragraph or two in an omnibus review. As an educated non-poet who cares a great deal about poetry, who actually reads books of contemporary poetry for pleasure, Jeremy is a member of an endangered species. I feel fortunate to get his responses, positive and negative, to my own work, even if he won’t take my bribes.
But I’ll shut up now. Maybe Bob himself would like to weigh in.
Catherine
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