Poet of Exile: A Study of Milton's Poetry by Louis L. Martz (review)

Abstract

This book is comprised of six lectures delivered at the University of Cincinnati during the spring of 1976, as well as a prologue and epilogue by the editor. Included are texts by literary critic Leslie Fiedler; sociologist Herbert Gans; art scholar Alan Gowans; John Kouwenhoven, author of Made in America; The Arts In Modern American Civilization; Constance Perin, social anthropologist and city planner; and philosopher Willis Truitt. As might be expected, the material covered is diverse, ranging from SAT scores and Marxism to shopping centers and fast food eateries, yet fundamentally all of the texts address the same dilemma: The standards by which we differentiate between art and craft, between any art form and its popular counterpart, are ultimately elitist standards, and as such are at odds with the spirit of a democratic society. But by what standards then, if any, should art be judged? And what role should it play in a society such as ours? Much of the material here is thought-provoking, but too often it is difficult to get through. These texts were originally meant to be delivered aloud. Gowan's detailed comparison of architectural styles, for instance, must have played nicely as a slide presentation, but hunting photos, flipping back then forth, makes it tiresome in a book. Professor Kouwenhoven's "Art, Disorder and American Experience," was delivered with wit and charm, I'm sure. On the page, however, it just seems coy. The central difficulty with Mann's collection of lectures is that they remain too much that; a collection of lectures.