766
Poetry from
Wesleyan
New Book8, Fall 1960
DAVID FERRY
On the Way to the Island
Subtle precision of word and
form. polished elegance of ex–
pression. and an acute awareness
of the unknown deeps that lie
be–
neath the surface of common–
place happenings - these are the
marks of David Ferry's poems.
His work has appeared in
The
New Yorker, Kenyon
Revi~w,
and
other magazines. Its publication
in this volume assures it of the
permanent form it deserves.
VASSAR MILLER
Wage War on Silence
In Miss Miller's first
book,Adam's
Footprint,
critics saw the stig–
mata of magnificence.
HOWARO
NEMEROV
called her poems "bril–
liant works of language ... rich,
strange, accurate, beautifully
paced."
JAMES WRIGHT
spoke of
the "full and terrible power of her
individual voice." The poems in
this new collection are no less
strong and compelling.
Previously Publi8hed
ROBERT FRANCIS: The Orb Weaver
BARBARA HOWES: Light and Dark
DONAlD JUSTICE: The Summer Anniversaries
HYAM PLUTZIK: Apples from Shinar
lOUIS SIMPSON: ADream of Governors
JAMES WRIGHT: Saint Judas
"The publication of these volumes
is an occasion for excitement and
rejoicing, providing, as it does,
accomplished poetry in distinctive
format at a reasonable cost."
-BURTON
A.
RO»IE
Each, $3.00 cloth, $1.65 paper
Selld for free descriptive brochure
Wesleyan
UNIV.".ITY
~"
•••
,...,DDL.TOWN, CONN.
conveniently mISSIng; they are
asthmatic, and so, as Neil puts
it, "the two of them went
wheezing off to Arizona."}
Furthermore, Kazin is not ac–
curate in placing the entire
blame for Mrs. Patimkin's dis–
covery on Brenda. Mrs. Patim–
kin uncovers the affair through
chancing upon the diaphragm
which Neil himself had insisted
Brenda buy. Finally, it is not
the family who break up the
romance; it is Neil himself who
tries to force complete respon–
sibility on Brenda, and who
walks out when she won't accept
it. Clearly there is more than
ample evidence that Neil has a
hand in his own disaster; his is
not a mere "betrayal." In fact,
there is nothing to betray: Neil
is nothing more than the
al–
legorical Poor Boy. He is never
assigned the slightest ambition,
interest or sentiment that might
give him credence as a full–
bodied character: he does not
seem to exist outside of his
frustration with the Patimkins.
Setting aside the fact that one
can't care about Neil, I wonder
if one is intended to? It would
.;->pear
that
Mr.
Roth never
quite decided this point for
himself - the slickness of his
first person style seems to cover
up for an excessive identifica–
tion. Mr. Howe regards Roth's
choice of the first-person as a
masterly bit of strategy: "Mr.
Roth, to his credit, presents Neil
