To Go Into the Words

Norman Finkelstein is the author of fourteen books of poetry and six books of criticism. His most recent critical work is Like a Dark Rabbi: Modern Poetry and the Jewish Literary Imagination (Hebrew Union College Press, 2019); recent volumes of poetry include In a Broken Star (Dos Madres Press, 2021) and Further Adventures (Dos Madres Press, 2023). He writes and edits the poetry review blog Restless Messengers (https://www.poetryinreview.com/). He is Professor Emeritus of English at Xavier University in Cincinnati, where he taught for forty years.

“For decades, Norman Finkelstein has mined the deep interiority of fellow poets for whom writing extends beyond creative expression and cultural commentary into the realm of the spirit. In To Go into the Words, he continues his groundbreaking work by exploring the visionary poetics of writers as varied as Helen Adam, Michael Palmer, and Nathaniel Mackey. What makes this book—and Finkelstein’s work as a whole—stand out is that in chapter after chapter we see the Philosopher’s Stone being polished by someone who knows that the most engaging criticism is, in fact, a form of celebration.”

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionWilliam BronkHelen AdamRonald JohnsonMichael PalmerNathaniel MackeyPaul BrayLawrence JosephTotal MidrashSecular Jewish Culture and Its Radical Poetic DiscontentsThe Master of Turning