Breslin, Paul (Ashbery, John; Ginsberg, Allen; Lowell, Robert; Plath, Sylvia et al.)

The Psycho-Political Muse: American Poetry Since the Fifties with: Ephemera

ISBN: 0226074102
Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press, 1987. First Edition. “Paul Breslin’s distinction as a critic of contemporary poetry is that he is willing to say things against, as well as for, the poet he’s writing about. Thus his criticism has a bite, too often absent from more single-minded approaches. The Psycho-Political Muse combines aesthetic and cultural responses in an exhilarating way, helping us think about both the poetry and the age we have recently lived through.”--William H. Pritchard, from back cover of dust jacket. Paul Breslin (b. 1945?), American poet, author, and Professor Emeritus of English at Weinberg College of Arts offers a fresh and skeptical look at the new poetic form that did away with the New Critical formalism at the end of the 1950s. 1987’s The Psycho-Political Muse shows how culturally radical poetry from the late fifties through the seventies typically portrayed the relation between self and society much as the radical psycho-political theorists of the same period conceived of it. Written with erudition, scathing research, and peer-less scholarship, The Psycho-Political Muse, looks at the “deep-image” surrealism of W.S. Merwin, Richard Wright, and Robert Bly; the “confessional” poetics attributed to Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, and John Berryman; the projectivism of Charles Olson as modified by Denise Levertov and Robert Duncan, and how they all share in their flight from the egoistic and how this shared preoccupation reflected the cultural guilt of the American middle class in the 1960s. The ascent of nascent neoliberalism–in the wake of the second World War, and as America began reaping its profits from its colonial projects in Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia–found its apotheosis in the climax of the Vietnam War, however, the age of constant economic crisis, waning of the American empire, and perpetuation of the permanent-arms-economy saw a distinct rise in not only radical politics, but radical poetry as well. Breslin analyzes these trends as they appeared in some of the most famous poems of the era. Deeply insightful, with surprisingly profound psycho-political analysis, The Psycho-Political Muse is a must read to truly understand the poetry of the 60’s & 70’s. From the collection of Laurence Goldstein (1943-2023), a renowned American author, film critic, poet, editor & academician here at the University of Michigan. We have found and retained, between front cover and title page, two sheets (1) seemingly a suggested edit for an unnamed work, and (2) a typed page from a manuscript; both sheets have some writing in thin blue-ink on the backs, seemingly making some sort of contract/to-do list (the writing is largely indecipherable to this curator). As well as a couple pages, seemingly cut out of another book of reviews(?), between pages 128-29 featuring a review of The Psycho-Political Muse by Harold Fromm. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket. First edition though not explicated as such at copyright page, first printing as indicated by number sequence thereon. Book is in relatively near fine condition with only slight wear to fine edges, a significant tear along spine at inside front cover, and light marginalia from previous owner, professor and reviewer Goldstein; dust jacket is in fine condition with light wear to fine edges and minor smudging to front and back covers. Near Fine / Fine. [Item #7096]

Price: $60.00