The University of North Carolina Press

Reviews

"Reveal[s] a deep relationship between poetry and politics rooted in the postwar period . . . [and] speaks to political histories of the roles and forms of contemporary American poetry."
--Against the Current

"The most in-depth look we have into the role that modern poetry played in the anticommunist culture wars of the 1950s."
--Clio

"[An] impressive volume. . . . Highly Recommended."
--Choice

"Explores in great depth the antimodernist literary movement of the mid 20th century."
--Wordsalad

"A penetrating historical and sociological study comparable to now-classic books. . . . Filreis provides a vivid lineage for a literary culture that promotes anti-intellectualism in the pursuit of 'core values.'"
--Boston Review

Counter-revolution of the Word is a magnificent feat of archival research, sensitive to ironic and contrary strains within adversarial political and cultural camps. Alan Filreis brilliantly troubles all previous narratives of the fate of modern U.S. poetry in the Cold War era by vivifying forgotten poems, reviews, and scholarly books, as well as scrutinizing literary debates, correspondence, and thwarted careers. This is a rare, distinctive, and landmark model of original scholarship that dialogically addresses major as well as minor writers with wit and a personal voice.--Alan M. Wald, University of Michigan