The first collection of poems by the winner of the 1996 Walt Whitman Award of The Academy of American poets.

An anthology of poems written by forty poets born after 1960.

Despite the many social changes of the last half-century, many Americans still "pass": black for white, gay for straight, and now in many new ways as well. We tend to think of passing in negative terms--as deceitful, cowardly, a betrayal of one's self. But this compassionate book reveals that many passers today are people of good heart and purpose whose decision to pass is an attempt to bypass injustice, and to be more truly themselves. Passing tells the poignant, complicated life stories of a black man who passed as a white Jew; a white woman who passed for black; a working class Puerto Rican who passes for privileged; a gay, Conservative Jewish seminarian and a lesbian naval officer who passed for straight; and a respected poet who radically shifts persona to write about rock'n'roll. The stories, interwoven with others from history, literature, and contemporary life, explore the many forms passing still takes in our culture; the social realities which make it an option; and its logistical, emotional, and moral consequences. We learn that there are still too many institutions, environments, and social situations that force honorable people to twist their lives into painful, deceit-ridden contortions for reasons that do not hold. Passing is an intellectually absorbing exploration of a phenomenon that has long intrigued scholars, inspired novelists, and made hits of movies like The Crying Game and Boys Don't Cry.

It is only in the last generation that lovers of art have recognized the special qualities of the 14th century Sienese school of painting, and have found its graceful, conventional drawing and its pleasing decorative effects not inferior to the realism and fidelity to nature praised in other periods. The general admiration accorded to the subtle, lyrical and aristo· cratic expression of abstract and spiritual conceptions which is the essence of Sienese painting, gives us some hope for the future develop ment of taste in Europe and for its artistic tendencies. F. Mason Perkins was the first to understand the aesthetic signific ance, not only of the principal artists of this school, but also of its minor members. His numerous articles on the "Little Masters" have been of great assistance to me in my attempt to write as complete a history as was possible of Sienese painting in the I4th century. I am only too glad to take this opportunity of paying homage to his profound knowledge and enthusiastic activity in this field of study. Other names that deserve mention here are those of Mr. Langton Douglas, the annotator of Crowe and Cavalcaselle and author of many important studies including a IIHistory of Siena"; and of Dr. G. De Nicola, Director of the National Museum, Florence, for among the many subjects with which he is conversant is the history of the Sienese school of painting, on which he has written articles of great value.

These essays break from decades of dominant “postmodern” readings of poetry, highlighting the 21st century renaissance in anticapitalist poetic activity, and forging new models for reading poems against the backdrop of capital’s deep contradictions.

Since the turn of the new millennium English-language verse has entered a new historical phase, but explanations vary as to what has actually happened and why. What might constitute a viable avant-garde poetics in the aftermath of such momentous developments as 9/11, globalization, and the financial crisis? Much of this discussion has taken place in ephemeral venues such as blogs, e-zines, public lectures, and conferences. Nobody’s Business is the first book to treat the emergence of Flarf and Conceptual Poetry in a serious way. In his engaging account, Brian M. Reed argues that these movements must be understood in relation to the proliferation of digital communications technologies and their integration into the corporate workplace. Writers such as Andrea Brady, Craig Dworkin, Kenneth Goldsmith, Danny Snelson, and Rachel Zolf specifically target for criticism the institutions, skill sets, and values that make possible the smooth functioning of a postindustrial, globalized economy. Authorship comes in for particular scrutiny: how does writing a poem differ in any meaningful way from other forms of "content providing"? While often adept at using new technologies, these writers nonetheless choose to explore anachronism, ineptitude, and error as aesthetic and political strategies. The results can appear derivative, tedious, or vulgar; they can also be stirring, compelling, and even sublime. As Reed sees it, this new generation of writers is carrying on the Duchampian practice of generating antiart that both challenges prevalent definitions or art and calls into question the legitimacy of the institutions that define it.