JUST THE THING: The Selected Letters of James Schuyler
, . . Turtle Point, $21.95 (152pp) ISBN 978-1-885586-71-1
The most accessible of the New York School of poets proves to be a delightful letter writer, as this breezy stream of correspondence over 40 years attests. Highlights are his regular bulletins to fellow poets John Ashbery, Barbara Guest and Kenneth Koch (Frank O'Hara and W.H. Auden are sadly missing). Schuyler's letters are primarily a means of keeping in touch, garnished with gossip, film and theater recommendations and other amusements. He does, of course, find time to comment archly on contemporary poetry, give solid editorial criticism, preview his own verse (including the unpublished "A Blue Shadow Painting") and collaborate with Ashbery on their satiric novel,
Reviewed on: 09/27/2004
Genre: Nonfiction
Paperback - 160 pages - 978-0-9533275-2-2