Readers may view this new compendium as a feast, or just a tasting menu designed to entice one deeper into Schwartz's oeuvre. Either way, it shows the depth and diversity of his work. There are two pieces of fiction (one, a novella), scores of poems plucked from various published collections, three pieces of literary criticism, and several letters that, if they don't enhance Schwartz's literary reputation directly, peg him as an intriguing friend of the greats: Ezra Pound, Allen Tate, William Carlos Williams, and others. The lengthy introduction by John Ashbery serves the same purpose, discussing some of the included work, as well as placing Schwartz (1913-1966) in a literary context. Most interesting are previously unpublished fragments from a book-length study of T.S. Eliot that was never finished. "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities," a compelling short story, is set in 1909 and features the Coney Island boardwalk, a fortune teller, and childhood dreams. "The World Is a Wedding," the novella, is a quiet and sometimes rambling coming-of-age story, told in short, titled chapters-each of which has immersive and sometimes provocative exchanges. The generous serving of poetry includes selections from five books, as well as a pair of unpublished poems and two unique verse dramas. This is a consistently intriguing volume that devotees and neophytes will want on their shelf. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Delmore Schwartz (1913-66) was highly regarded as a powerfully original and edgy member of the literary flowering of the 1930s and 1940s in sync with T. S. Eliot, Robert Lowell, John Berryman, and Saul Bellow. He wrote of his difficult Brooklyn boyhood and Jewish American city life with dramatic immediacy and a profound sense of the deepest reaches of the human experience as recorded in poetry and story. But now, if his name is familiar, it's more likely to be due to the sad tale of his capsized life than the extent of his literary genius. Brilliant, erudite, seductively brazen, Schwartz wrote incessantly and struggled with mental illness along with addiction to alcohol and drugs, ultimately dying alone in a shabby New York hotel at age 52. This best of collection seeks to reassemble and reintroduce Schwartz's writings, which, in his resurrecting introduction, John Ashbery describes as in a sense one vast mythification of himself and his family. Readers will be gripped by the short story that gave his first book of poetry its title, In Dreams Begin Responsibilities, as well as poems from five collections, unpublished works, a verse drama, critical essays, and letters to Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, and James Laughlin, founder of New Directions, Schwartz's steadfast publisher. This richly illuminating collection should help secure Schwartz the renewed appreciation he deserves.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2016 Booklist