24 days ago
- The author leads a well-read book group and introduces them to poetry, starting with John Berryman and moving to John Ashbery.
- Ashbery is described as a philosophical poet focused on the experience of thinking, embracing uncertainty and contradiction without a clear message.
- His work can be approached like abstract art or atonal music, emphasizing mood and patterns over literal meaning, with enjambment playing a key role.
- Ashbery explores imagination and the poet's predicament of connecting with readers, using a playful, self-referential style that reflects human struggles.
- The guide suggests reading Ashbery aloud and suspending judgment to appreciate his wit, sound, and imagery, highlighting themes of queerness and vernacular love.