Wallace Stevens: Words Chosen Out of Desire

“More than any other single critic, Vendler has shown people how to read Stevens not as a philosopher...but as a passionate and often disappointed human being.”
—Stephanie Burt, Wallace Stevens Journal

A giant of modern poetry finds his greatest reader and fiercest advocate in the peerless Helen Vendler.

Wallace Stevens is often considered a cerebral, abstract poet. Alternating between ornamental flourish and philosophical contemplation, his work can seem impenetrable to casual readers. When a...