Pinsky's election to the post of U.S. Poet Laureate in 1997 is a testament in and of itself to his critical reception. His work has been well received— from his first published collection, Sadness and Happiness in 1975, through his most recent work, but mostly by other established poets and scholars in the field. While readers in general may find his style somewhat jumbled and his subjects too erudite, these are the same aspects of his work that well-seasoned critics find so appealing. In a review for The Hollins Critic titled "Proving Irony by Comparison: The Poetry of Robert Pinsky," which came out shortly after the publication of History of My Heart, critic Charles Molesworth says Pinsky "manages to be personal without being confessional, sophisticated without being glib, and knowledgeable without being world-weary or cutely playful." About History of My Heart, Molesworth goes on to say that...