SOURCE: Meyer, Thomas. “Glistening Torsos, Sandwiches, and Coca-Cola.” Parnassus: Poetry in Review 6, no. 1 (fall-winter 1977): 241-57.

In the following review, Meyer surveys the strengths and weakness of O'Hara's verse and links his work with the poetry of Guillaume Apollinaire.

Since the last War the United States has had a certain number of poets die young and unexpectedly, leaving behind them a body of work that begs for immediate evaluation in terms of authentic greatness. The directness and quality of impact these poets had on their own and a budding generation allows them, once dead, to contend for the title of unsung, overlooked Major Figure. It is hard to tell how much of this ambience was their presence and how much the poems themselves. And that makes us uneasy, as does the life not lived out, especially when there was definitely a spark of promise evident. Alas, greatness or the...