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The following review appeared in the October 2021 issue of CHOICE. The review is for your internal use only. Please review our Permission and Reprints Guidelines or email permissions@ala-choice.org.
Humanities
Language & Literature - English & American
McRae (New Jersey Institute of Technology) studies a handful of US poets, three of them well-established mid-20th-century white males—John Berryman, Robert Lowell, and A. R. Ammons—and two of them contemporary African Americans, Terrance Hayes and Morgan Parker. There is also an interesting discussion of Monica Youn, a lawyer-turned-poet. The thesis that guides McRae's clear and extremely knowledgeable readings is that the modern and contemporary lyric is often comic, and that the comedy issues from negative projections of the self. Though her readings amplify her thesis, she acknowledges other approaches and the shifting definitions of lyric poetry over centuries, and also considers the poetry within historical, sociopolitical contexts. Most interesting is the ongoing analogy between stand-up comedy and the modern and postmodern lyric, and this includes the ongoing development of performative aspects of postwar American poetry. The poets examined are diverse, as are the poems McRae discusses, and gender and race awareness play a significant role in her conversation. McRae writes in a relaxed style with a wit and humor that belies the deep knowledge that informs her observations. A solid resource for those interested in poetry and current critical theory and practice.
--B. Wallenstein, emeritus, CUNY City College