Real Sofistikashun
by Tony Hoagland
Graywolf, 201 pp., $15 (paper)
There are many people who dislike poetry and still more who claim to simply not get it. Many poets have grappled with this truth and attempted to change things by suggesting that poetry is vital, that without it "men die miserably every day," as William Carlos Williams once wrote.Unfortunately, this defense aims to convince people to read poetry based on its (spiritual) nutritive qualities. It's a pointless, parental approach. Rarely is "Eat this, it's good for you" as persuasive as "Try this, you might like it." You can't persuade or shame or scare someone into liking poetry. It's too bad, as many writers could better spend their time addressing the people who already love poetry rather than trying to convert those who don't – people who, I would assume, are unlikely to be reading books on poetry in the first place.
Tony Hoagland's book of essays doesn't waste a second on justifying himself or poetry. He doesn't preach to the choir; he sings with it. In the personable foreword to Real Sofistikashun, Hoagland writes that his essays are "neither academic nor exactly for the person off the street. ... They are intended for the reader who loves poems and likes to think about them. My hope is that these pieces show one person trying to think through certain topics, and that the step-by-step process of thinking will be helpful. ... No program or prescription for American poetry is being argued here."
His hopes are fully realized. Real Sofistikashun makes no attempts to validate the form or to announce itself as a contender for the critical canon. Hoagland doesn't try to set criteria for what makes a poem good or bad and readily acknowledges that taste may preclude the possibility of one. In discussing Wallace Stevens, he writes, "There are so many kinds of excess in Stevens to admire; or, depending on your temperament, to dislike." His writing is accessible, his tone approachable – likable, even. Each essay has the easy energy and flow of a conversation with a truly passionate person. When explaining or proposing an idea, he pulls books off his shelves to illustrate his points, and those looking for exposure to new poets will have a much better time with this book than randomly thumbing through an anthology. Real Sofistikashun is remarkably encouraging as a barometer of poetry today, worth a hundred defenses and more convincing than any of them.
