The Art of Daring: Risk, Restlessness, Imagination

I was pleased to read a thoughtful analysis of the work of (mainly) contemporary poets.

I've had this book on my shelf for a while, as I like what the "Art of" series try to do with their volumes: look in detail, as with a microscope, at a particular aspect of writing craft. Some titles are better than others, because it is obviously the personal voice of the different authors which bring what elucidation is brought.I can't say I really got much from this book. It's really a collection of different essays on poetry, with a couple of highly autobiographical ones which look (in a little too much detail) into the author's personal (mainly sexual) life. I actually really enjoyed his unpacking of different sections of lyric poems in a couple of the essays, but I can't find a through line between these and the author's central point of daring in creativity - not beyond him simply suggesting that it's so.Parts of this book spoke to me, and parts really did not. Perhaps there are those for whom all the notes hit right, but that's not me. I had hoped to see how daring directly translated into writing and thinking about writing, but the daring involved here is mainly a confessional about the author's coming-out, and procession through relationships in what he even identifies as promiscuousness. This informs, or parallels, the author's writing career, but not in a way I could identify with.

Phillips pushes the envelope of the connection between the creation of poetry and the willingness to step out into life with all it's uncertainties and beauty, both brutal and gossamer. Frank in questioning his own life, he leads us by the hand through other poets' works to revelations of the issues of fragile mortality & precarious balance in the creative life.

Everything was good.

A wonderful, inventive, challenging set of essays. Phillips addresses poetry, but his insights about creativity and the role risk plays in our lives are applicable across a wide spectrum.