Pinsky, Robert, Democracy, Culture, and the Voice of Poetry, Princeton University Press, 2002.

This prose publication is a little book on a very large subject. In it, Pinsky addresses the notion that poetry is a dying art with a dwindling audience, especially in American culture. Pinsky argues that just the opposite is true—that poetry is actually a reflection of and comment on the major themes at the heart of a large democracy.

—, An Explanation of America, Princeton University Press, 1979.

In this book-length poem, Pinsky examines the culture and history of the United States in an attempt to explain the nation's good points and bad points to his daughter. His assessment is at times negative, at times positive, and always candid. In the end, Pinsky appears to be more optimistic than not.

—, The Situation of Poetry: Contemporary Poetry and Its Traditions, Princeton University Press, 1976.

In these essays...