Publisher's Synopsis
To Go Into the Words to Expand Them is the latest book of critical prose from renowned poet and scholar of Jewish literature Norman Finkelstein. Through a rigorous examination of contemporary poetry, poetics, and poets like Helen Adam, Nathaniel Mackey, Donald Revel, and more, the text exhibits a poetic fascination with transcendence and radical delight at language. By opening up the works of a given poet or poem, Finkelstein seeks the "gnosis" or insight of what it contains so that other readers can understand and appreciate the works even more.
Pulling from Finkelstein's experience of writing thirteen books of poetry and six books of literary criticism, To Go Into the Words to Expand Them consistently rewards the reader with insights as transformative as they are well-considered and deftly mapped out. This volume opens the world of poetry to poets, scholars, and readers by showcasing "the gnosis that is to be found in modern poetry."
