Air for Mercury | Literary Criticism & Book Review

Air for Mercury Critical Overview

Hillman's Cascadia has received largely positive reviews, although many critics have noted the difficulty of the work. As Kevin Arnold notes in the online poetry journal, Valparaiso Poetry Review, "The only constant on the pages of Cascadia is the page number." This lack of cohesiveness is not a negative aspect, though, according to Arnold: "Her poetry is not intentionally obscure," he says. "However, given the scope of the greater work, individual poems are not necessarily easy to comprehend on a first reading." In her review of the book for Library Journal, Rochelle Ratner agrees: "Not for the casual poetry reader, Cascadia is nevertheless highly recommended." Ratner sees the chaotic nature of Hillman's collection as evidence of "a mature poet taking more risks with each successive volume." Indeed, the reviewer for Tikkun calls Cascadia Hillman's "best book yet" and says that the poet "finds herself 'in search for the search' of...
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