Art Of Recklessness

Young's first book of prose on poetry is more than just another illuminating instalment of Graywolf's popular Art Of series - it's a manifesto. In it, Young makes a moving and sincere argument for the importance of what he calls recklessness' in art and poetry. 'Poetry is not a discipline,' he writes. 'It's a hunger, a revolt, a drive, a mash note, a fright, a tantrum, a grief, a hoax, a debacle, an application, an affect. We cannot make the gods come. All we can do is sweep the steps of the temple and thus we sit down to our desks.''