The Sea of Disappointment

This comprehensive and well-documented new book draws on illuminating manuscript sources and unpublished work as well as on Kinsella¿s personal assistance. A powerful sense of being present in the poet¿s workshop emerges from the pages, and Fitzsimons considers Kinsella¿s work from its beginnings until his most recent publications. He shows that Kinsella¿s poetry is driven, despite the apparent rift between its early and late styles, by a consistent impulse and deliberate aesthetic of growth. He also provides a chapter on Kinsella¿s influence and reputation among the younger generation of Irish writers.

Andrew Fitzsimons is an Associate Professor at Gakushuin University, Tokyo.