POSSESSED BY MEMORY The Inward Light of Criticism

This superb audiobook is a seminar in great poetry from the Old Testament to the century just past. Bloom, our most revered literary critic, who is in his late 80s now, looks back at the poems and authors he's most admired. Many of the recent poets are friends now departed, and a sense of nostalgia and loss pervades the material. Stephen Mendel is an especially effective narrator--energetic, strong paced, sensitive to poetic rhythm and nuance, yet free of accent and affect. Bloom's commentaries are brief, and he is generous, exceeding generous, in quoting his authors. Read with simple grace and clarity, these great poems come together with an immediacy and naturalism rarely found in audiobook readings of the classics. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2019]