Charles Baudelaire (Modern Critical Views Series)

Library Journal

Bloom's contribution to contemporary criticism is his pugnacious presentation of literary influence as misreading. Accordingly, this collection of essays features chiefly critics who not only see Baudelaire as misreading predecessors but also see prior critics as misreading Baudelaire. Though Bloom's perspective does give readers a sense of the works and of the accrued critical tradition, it is perhaps responsible for the casual scholarly apparatus; if misreadings always occur, what difference does it make where they occur? It is a pity that the essays, ranging from Walter Benjamin's ``Central Park'' to Paul de Man's ``Anthropomorphism and Trope in Lyric,'' lack footnotes or bibliography, forcing the reader to match the volume's bibliography entries with the essays. Marilyn Gaddis Rose, Comparative Literature Dept., SUNY at Binghamton