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A Poet Reflects on the Growth and Metamorphoses of the Self

The Return of Artz Carbuncle: For the third volume of the series of books by the fictive poet, Carbuncle dedicates his work to ‘Mr. B,’ his friend and literary advisor, “in the hope that it may help him to hear another man tell his story.” Three of the book’s five sections are prose narratives. The first of these is a sympathetic if deeply satirical view of academic life and striving. The second contrasts the life of the mind and a life lived in nature, while the third celebrates the innocent wisdom of a child’s relation to the natural world. These narratives separate two extended collections of poems: the first, “Songs of Self Love and Other Academic Exercises,” explores the psychological and cultural nature of personal identity; the second, “Kinderszenen,” portrays the awakening and growth of personality, its shaping by childhood experiences.