Tate has always had both fans and detractors, and critical responses to Reckoner (1986), the volume in which "Smart and Final Iris" appears, illustrate this. Chris Stroffolino, for example, notes that the volume marks Tate's turn "toward society and sociopolitical themes," and says that "Smart and Final Iris" is about the public's "helplessness in the face of the doublespeak of 'Pentagon code.'" Lee Upton similarly notes that many poems in the collection appeal to readers who have lost faith in.....
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