Between the Lines

"Until I read Philip Hoy's remarkably detailed interview, I thought I'd understood Anthony Hecht and his work. But now we're allowed an unprecedented intimacy. Not only is this an illuminating self-portrait by one of our great poets, but it also stands as a rare glimpse inside the poetic mind at work - a mind surprisingly vulnerable, supremely intelligent and humane." -- J.D. McClatchy, Editor, The Yale Review"For nearly half a century, Anthony Hecht has been one of the few truly indispensable poets writing in English. Now we have an indispensable guide to his work, in the richest and most revealing interview he has ever conducted. Heretofore unavailable biographical detail - especially valuable in reading poems which draw from his childhood and wartime experiences - is deepened by Hecht's meditations on poetry's transformative, empathic task to invent people and worlds beyond autobiography.Difficult references in the work of this erudite poet are identified and their uses clarified. Hecht offers the frankest evaluations of recent disturbing trends in criticism and education, sometimes in grave tones, sometimes with wit and mischief. Thanks to Philip Hoy's intelligently pointed questions and Hecht's far-ranging answers, one comes away from the conversation wishing to read or re-read all the material in the thorough bibliography that concludes the book. This little volume reminds us, in short, of why we love poetry itself." --Mary-Jo SalterA splendid addition to a splendid series. A most searching and revealing conversation. --X.J. Kennedy