Trust me on this: if you care about books, this is one you absolutely must read.Elizabeth Young has a stupendous prose style, a sinuous & interesting taste and a way of hooking you from page 1.I only heard about this because someone I know at Serpent's Tail gave me a copy, but it's a crime this book isn't better known in the USA.I am about to buy several copies so that I can give them away & make some converts.
Delmore Schwartz has unfortunately been forgotten by most people today, and that is a great shame. (An example of this is that Schwartz's student John Berryman has his own entry in the online edition of Encarta; Delmoredoes not.) I first came into contact with his work in 9th grade, when ateacher suggested I read the Schwartz poem, "The Heavy Bear Who GoesWith Me" -- one of his masterpieces, collected in "SummerKnowledge." Later, around the time I read this book,there was a briefsurge in Delmore interest with the publication of Jame Atlas' biography ofSchwartz and Saul Bellow's "Humboldts Gift", the title characterbeing based on Delmore. Fortunately, this led to reprinting of much of hiswork. Sadly, it didn't lead to continued general interest. The titlestory alone is reason enough to buy "In Dreams..." The brilliantdevice of having the main character watching a movie of his parentscourtship, is was way ahead of its time. The end of the story will lingerin your mind. It's heartbreaking and scary and funny.
Schwartz's workdeserves a wider audience. I promise you will not be dissapointed if youtake the time to read him. The only poet I know who has both a Berryman"Dream Song" and a Lou Reed song dedicated to him can't be toobad, can he?
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