Description
Edited with essays on the writers by Andrew McCarron
Literary Nonfiction. Literary Criticism. Including selected poems from Charles North, Tony Towle and Paul Violi. Edited and with commentary by Andrew McCarron. With a foreword by John Koethe. What is the shape of a life dedicated to poetry—and how, and from where, does such a dedication take hold? Moreover is that foundation a matter of decision, necessity and/or “grace”—or all three to degrees—and what are its costs? Combined with a selection of poems from these three distinguished poets, who together form a core of the Second Generation of New York School poets, Andrew McCarron pursues these questions, and more, through a series of biographical essays addressing each poet’s life story and psychological complexion-and what critical insights such gleanings might lead. The poetry alone of North, Towle and Violi—exact in its execution and wide in its—is of enduring value and utility; juxtaposed with and in part seen through McCarron’s exegeses, these qualities assume a poignancy that seems to lead us further into an examination of our human fate and of what it’s all about: or as Towle writes, “in between the great saga of America, / lying like a lost nickel in New York’s platonic gutter.” As long as interest in the New York School holds—and in fact continues to grow—THREE NEW YORK POETS will remain an essential guide.
