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The best introduction to Ashbery is his long (but still readable in one sitting) poem Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror, which deals with a subject most of us he
by Mediterraneo10 6y ago
The best introduction to Ashbery is his long (but still readable in one sitting) poem Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror, which deals with a subject most of us here can relate to: being profoundly moved, stirred up, heartwrenched by a work of art – in this case Parmigianino's painting of the same title – and unable to stop coming back to it again and again.
Later Ashbery is more hermetic and often downright inane, but Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror justly won a trifecta of American literary prizes in the year it was published.
- zebraflask 6y agoThinking about it, maybe "Shadow Train" would be more accessible - those ones are all capped at 16 lines each, which gives you a healthy dose of the typical Ashberian verbal delirium without throwing you straight into the deep end.