I enjoy this site for the opinions it offers on current poetry — not just
the reviews but the responses as well. The review and discussion of Lucie
Brock-Broido is a good example of how constantcritic is helping readers
better understand contemporary poetry.

In his review of Fulton’s Selected Poems, Jordan Davis gets some things
right, but I wish he’d pursued a couple of his opinions a little farther
because at times I wasn’t sure what he was implying. For instance, he notes
that the poem with hand-written annotations, “Point of Purchase,” isn’t
included in the Selected, but I don’t know what he makes of this poem or its
exclusion. When I first saw this poem in Powers of Congress, I was one of
those who thought my copy had been written in. It was an inventive, bold,
funny, mind-blowing long poem, and in my opinion, it remains so to this
day. “Point of Purchase” was concerned with commodification, art,
art-criticism, reader responses, the instability of the text, and many more
“issues” that have come to the fore today. Jordan Davis quotes Fulton’s
worries about the poem’s reception, but he doesn’t summarize her exegesis
from that same essay, which convincingly shows how profound and inventive
the poem is. With “Point of Purchase,” Fulton truly thought “outside the
box,” pushed the conventional envelope. It was a mistake to leave it out of
the Selected.

One last thought: While I agree that it’d be nice to have books more often
from Fulton, did your reviewer have to phrase the wish as “I’d rather not
wait four more years for the chance to fall for this hustle again?” It
leaves the impression that this thoughtful and daring poet is a hustler,
which she definitely is not. She’s one of a few writers with the ability to
change the course of literature.

William Donovan

I’m writing to thank you for the provocative
review of Alice Fulton’s new book. Though I
sometimes enjoy reviews of books I’ve never
read, I prefer reviews about poets whose
work I know somewhat since then I can think
along with the reviewer pro or con.

I first read Sensual Math a couple of years
ago when my math-geek now ex boyfriend gave
me a used copy because he thought it might
make him seem like he had a clue. It didn’t
help and it doesn’t matter but the book is
maybe the one good thing that came from a
bad situation. It was good enough to get me
to buy Felt, which I like even more. Anyway,
I have a comment on one sentence in the
review that caught my attention and made me
think: “In this country, when a poet appears
to anticipate the charge of resorting to
gimmicks, and then dives into the bag of
tricks anyway, we call that impending fame.”
Since the reviewer is generalizing, I wonder
what other poets he has in mind? Jorie
Graham’s rampant dash or midline blanks in
The End of Beauty? I also wonder whether
“gimmicks” is a word people use to control
and discourage change or “experiment?”

I don’t know Fulton, but if she does have
ambivalence and self-doubt, that’s refreshing.
Does anyone else get the impression that many
A-list poets are almost sickeningly sure of
themselves? I can relate to Fulton’s concern
with appearances and ethics. I hadn’t really
thought of her in those terms till I read
this review, and it helps.

A Constant Reader,
Jennifer Russell