In this new edition of Best Words, Best Order, Stephen Dobyns further explains the mystery of the poet's work. Through essays on memory and metaphor, pacing, and the intricacies of voice and tone, and thoughtful appreciations of Chekhov, Ritsos, Mandelstam, and Rilke, Dobyns guides readers and writers through poetry's mysterious twilight communiques. For this new second edition, Dobyns has added two new essays, one dealing with the idea of ""beauty"" in poetry and another dealing with the almost mystical way poets connect seemingly disparate elements in a single work.
""These essays are wonderfully efficient litte machines, reproducing in the reader Dobyns's deep understanding of and affection for the work of such peers as Rilke, Mandelstan, and Chekhov."" -- Library Journal
""Few writers are as versatile or prolific as Stephen Dobyns. . .Mr. Dobyns celebrates a plain-spoken poetry that is alert to structure and open to tension and surprise. He provides us with informed, resonant readings of contemporary poems. . ."" --The New York Times Book Review
""...painstaking, admirable and enjoyable.""--The Times Literary Supplement
