As always, [in Nostalgia for the Present] Voznesensky focuses on everyday reality—"rolling up the particular" to use Williams's phrase—and the poems are accordingly free of cant, both literary and political. There is an unfortunate stop-and-start quality to the procession of poems because of the different translators. This makes it difficult to settle down with and read straight through; but browsed, the book works splendidly.

A major section of the book is devoted to "Story Under Full Sail."… This work shows Voznesensky in a new dimension, handling the long poem. It is solid, full of beauty and insight, and very exciting….

Voznesensky, always the most accessible of the contemporary Russian poets, is served well by this book, and so are we.

Joel Oppenheimer, "Books: 'Nostalgia for the Present: Poems'," in The Village Voice (reprinted by permission; copyright © 1978), Vol. XXIII, No. 48, November 27, 1978, p. 106.