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Poet, journalist, and crime novelist, Kenneth Fearing wrote poems filled with the jargon of advertising and radio broadcasts and tabloid headlines, sidewalk political oratory, and the pop tunes on the jukebox. Seeking out what he called "the new and complex harmonies . . . of a strange and still more complex age," he evoked the jitters of the Depression and the war years in a voice alternately sardonic and melancholy, and depicted a fragmenting urban world bombarded by restless desires and show more unnerving fears. But, in the words of editor Robert Polito, "Fearing's poems carry no whiff of the curio or relic. If anything, his poems . . . insinuated an emerging media universe that poetry still only fitfully acknowledges." This new selection foregrounds the energy and originality of Fearing's prophetic poetry, with its constant formal experimenting and its singular note of warning- "We must be prepared for anything, anything, anything." As a chronicler of mass culture and its discontents, Fearing is a strangely solitary figure who cannot be ignored. About the American Poets Project Elegantly designed in compact editions, printed on acid-free paper, and textually authoritative, the American Poets Project makes available the full range of the American poetic accomplishment, selected and introduced by today's most discerning poets and critics. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Fearing's best poems are pretty fascinating and have a modern edge, despite being written as early as the 1920s. However, like his crime novels, their surface appeal grows a bit thin after a while. No doubt the author pleased himself immensely--he only pleases us intermittently. Still, recommended for anyone who has been intrigued by his other work.
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34 works; 1 member
Author Information
19+ Works 1,085 Members
All Editions
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Selected Poems
- Original publication date
- 2004
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- Members
- 93
- Popularity
- 345,855
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.75)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 1
- ASINs
- 1
