[Ed Shacklee]

I like Robbins' reconsideration of Dylan Thomas more than his gutting of the postmoderns, by the way; I thought his acerbic wit was put to better use pointing out the shortcomings of a poet whose work he's rather reluctantly fallen back in love with.

With the postmoderns, on the other hand, he basically demonstrated several clever ways to poke a dead horse with a stiletto. There's nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't help me as a reader; I'm never going to spend much time reading poems I don't like, and I can figure out which ones those are on my own. Bashing other poets with savage glee seems to generate more interest, and it can be entertaining in its way, but I doubt it has much nutritional value.

Best,

Ed