“The book is an aesthetic event, an art object in a way analogous to a book of poems’ existence as an art object, a poem, in toto. Baudelaire’s Les fleurs du mal or Yeats’s Tower come to mind.”

Paul A. Bové, University of Pittsburgh

“Charles Bernstein has reintroduced a spirit of polemic into the world of American poetry. In the exhausted atmosphere in which so much of our writing takes place, Charles Bernstein has battled long and hard to make both writers and readers aware of the implications embedded in each and every language act we partake of as citizens of this vast, troubled country. Whether or not you agree with what Charles Bernstein has to say is less important than the fact that it has become more and more important to listen to what he is saying.”

Paul Auster, from the foreword

“A tireless provocateur, Bernstein may be as known for his critical writing as for his poetry. His innovative, genre-bending essays . . . offer an inspired blend of contrarian polemic, acute analysis, and ironic humor as they confront the stifling rules and protocols of poetry and the institutions that underlie it.”

Andrew Epstein, 'The Cambridge Introduction to American Poetry since 1945'