“The main thing in poetry criticism is that I have all these opinions, and I love having something to do with them. And I think it's important that people try not to be false. The ideal would be that everybody says everything in print. I don't know that it's that I'm not afraid.” PeopleThinkingTryingImportantOpinionCriticismPrintNot Afraid Author:Dan Chiasson
“I do care about the consequences of being negative toward people who are powerful. But I'm more afraid of not being taken seriously as a critic - by editors, by readers.” PeopleCarePowerfulTakenConsequenceNegativeCriticsI Do Care Author:Dan Chiasson
“The issue is that when you're a critic it's hard to tell the difference between the thrill of denouncing and telling the truth. Telling the truth to me feels more often like denouncing than like praising. There are many more concrete advantages in the world for people who praise than for those who denounce. So if you want to tell the truth, oftentimes you're going to err on the side of denouncing. That's just something I have to work on.” PeopleWorldPraiseCriticsTelling The TruthConcrete Author:Dan Chiasson
