Young's first book of prose on poetry is more than just another illuminating instalment of Graywolf's popular Art Of series - it's a manifesto. In it, Young makes a moving and sincere argument for the importance of what he calls recklessness' in art and poetry. 'Poetry is not a discipline,' he writes. 'It's a hunger, a revolt, a drive, a mash note, a fright, a tantrum, a grief, a hoax, a debacle, an application, an affect. We cannot make the gods come. All we can do is sweep the steps of the temple and thus we sit down to our desks.''
About the book
Young's first book of prose on poetry is more than just another illuminating instalment of Graywolf's popular Art Of series - it's a manifesto. In it, Young makes a moving and sincere argument for the importance of what he calls recklessness' in art and poetry. 'Poetry is not a discipline,' he writes. 'It's a hunger, a revolt, a drive, a mash note, a fright, a tantrum, a grief, a hoax, a debacle, an application, an affect. We cannot make the gods come. All we can do is sweep the steps of the temple and thus we sit down to our desks.''