The Complete Poems of James Dickey

"James Dickey was like a force of nature—in personality, ambition, and often enough, in achievement. Sometimes the man, in his drive for fame, seemed to get in the way of the poet. Dickey's Complete Poems not only places the best of his great poetry in perspective, it honors the whole of his poetry as an original and demanding work of art. The fifty years of poems represented here demonstrate more than simply a commitment to form and change and growth, they stand as a testament to experiment and discovery. No poet in our history has written with more power per line, more pulse, and more heat of the moment. From the first poem to the last—a marvelous elegy for F. Scott Fitzgerald—the writing is beautifully alive. Dickey pushed the limits. In his great poems he enlarged what American poetry is."—Stanley Plumly

"One must go all the way back to Walt Whitman to find an American poet who can equal the sheer vitality of James Dickey's work. Ward Briggs's majestic compilation solidifies Dickey's position as one of our nation's greatest poets: oracular, unrelenting, and utterly original."—Ron Rash

"As this needed collection reminds us, Dickey's poetry is important not only because it is so skillful, but because it expresses a great deal about the American imagination in its response to an increasingly complex and 'unnatural' phase of civilization. Who can tell us more about our 'American,' 'masculine,' most dangerous selves? Even more than Whitman, Dickey contains multitudes. He cannot be reproached for the fact that some of these aspects of a vast, complex self are at war with the others."—Joyce Carol Oates

"No other American writer since Faulkner has written about landscape, carnality, and war with such music and mythic grandeur."—Adam Tavel, Rain Taxi

"Nevertheless, it is a meticulous and master achievement in both structure and design, and remains a worthwhile investment for any reader seeking a thorough understanding of this great bard's range and ceaseless experimentation."—Adam Tavel, Rain Taxi