Lost Lunar Baedeker

On the simplest level of presentation this collection fails the test; matching the information offered in the introduction to the table of contents produces confusion where clarity would have been so easy to achieve. There is a strong suspicion that the introduction has just been lifted over from an earlier volume without dealing with the consequences and the reader is left to wonder whether a particular poem is part of a group referred to in the introduction as having been written during a particular phase of Loy's life, evolution of her writing or reaction to contemporary events in the group of modernist poets she can be identified with. This comes as a real surprise in a Carcanet production and far from helping to establish the reputation of one of the last (founding) modernists, it makes more difficult the revelation of a little-known author as a significant talent.

New!

Recommended to anyone with an interest in modern poetry.