Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. The Bowl of Diogenes; or, The End of Criticism 1
5. Verse Chronicle Out on the Lawn 11
6. Verse Chronicle Stouthearted Men 25
7. The Most Contemptible Moth Lowell in Letters 39
8. Forward Into the Past Reading the New Critics 56
9. Verse Chronicle One If by Land 64
10. Verse Chronicle The Great American Desert 77
11. The State with the Prettiest Name 91
12. Elizabeth Bishop Unfinished 111
13. Elizabeth Bishop’s Sullen Art 122
14. Verse Chronicle Jumping the Shark 126
15. Verse Chronicle Victoria’s Secret 140
16. Attack of the Anthologists 154
17. The Lost World of Lawrence Durrell 161
18. Hart Crane Overboard 166
19. On Reviewing Hart Crane 172
20. The Endless Ocean of Derek Walcott 183
21. The Civil Power of Geoffrey Hill 188
22. Verse Chronicle God’s Chatter 193
23. Verse Chronicle Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Luff 207
24. Pynchon in the Poetic 221
25. Back to the Future (Thomas Pynchon) 234
26. Verse Chronicle The World Is Too Much with Us 258
27. Verse Chronicle Valentine’s Day Massacre 272
28. The Forgotten Masterpiece of John Townsend Trowbridge 286
29. Frost at Midnight 300
30. Interview by Garrick Davis 327
31. Permissions 339
32. Books Under Review 341
33. Index of Authors Reviewed 345
34. Biographical Note 347