One Kind of Everything – Poem and Person in Contemporary America : Poem and Person in Contemporary America

Elucidates the uses of autobiography and constructions of personhood in American poetry since World War II, with reference to American literature in general since Emerson. Including essays on Robert Lowell, Frank Bidart, Frank O'Hara, and Louise Gluck, the author intends to bridge the chasm between formal and experimental poetry in the US.

"One Kind of Everything" elucidates the uses of autobiography and constructions of personhood in American poetry since World War II, with helpful reference to American literature in general since Emerson. Taking on one of the most crucial issues in American poetry of the last fifty years, celebrated poet Dan Chiasson explores what is lost or gained when real-life experiences are made part of the subject matter and source material for poetry. In five extended, scholarly essays - on Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop, Frank Bidart, Frank O'Hara, and Louise Gluck - Chiasson looks specifically to bridge the chasm between formal and experimental poetry in the United States. Regardless of form, Chiasson argues that recent American poetry is most thoughtful when it engages forcefully with autobiographical material, either in an effort to embrace it or denounce it.