Paterson (Magill Book Reviews)

At a glance:

  • Author: William Carlos Williams
  • First Published: 1946
  • Type of Work: Poetry
  • Genres: Poetry
  • Subjects: 1950’s
  • Locales: Paterson, NJ

According to the terms of the debate still furiously raging on campuses across the country, William Carlos Williams is firmly enshrined in the canon (file under “Modernism”). Fine. Now perform this simple experiment. Ask the next one hundred English majors you meet if they’ve read PATERSON (and throw in American Studies majors for good measure). Maybe one or two will say yes, maybe none at all.

This revised edition of PATERSON, then, isn’t simply an item for the scholar’s shelf: It’s a book waiting for readers. Yes, poets from two generations have wrestled with it;...

[The entire page is 589 words long]

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