"Vendler does a fantastic job teaching students techniques for building a critique without destroying the integrity of the poems… Her diverse selection, spanning both canonical and contemporary poetry, helps students understand the ways in which poets and poems speak to each other across centuries, gender and race."
— Camille-Yvette Welsch, Pennsylvania State University
"Vendler writes beautifully and analyzes texts beautifully. Her writing (so smart, so lucid) is the reason that I have kept using this book."
— Ann R. Hawkins, Texas Tech University