Waldman, Anne - Waldman, Anne 1945–
Waldman, Anne 1945–
Ms Waldman, an American poet, searches for meaning and value in urban settings, looking for "the occasional jewel" which becomes the poem itself. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 37-40.)
I don't know how to say this without offense, but I found [Baby Breakdown] a horrid little monster, a spoiled brat of a thing. Ted Berrigan, who wrote the blurb, makes only one statement with which I agree, that Miss Waldman "is no Emily Dickinson." Apart from that, his eulogy means nothing to me and has no public relation to the poems.
It is perhaps significant that he refers to the poet as Anne; if he knows her personally, perhaps her poetry takes the form of action, words may not be her medium. On the mere evidence of the poems, Miss Waldman's verses are baby-talk, precocious but not intelligent. The usual modish assumptions provide whatever content appears: the world was born today, young is by definition beautiful,...
[The entire page is 1587 words long]
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