<DIV><p><i>The Complete Poems of Kenneth Rexroth</i> assembles all of his published longer and shorter poems, and includes a never-before-published selection of his earliest work. Rexroth's poems of nature and protest are remarkable for their erudition and biting social and political commentary; his love poems justly celebrated for their eroticism and depth of feeling.</p><p>The cloth edition was one of the most widely reviewed poetry titles in 2003:</p><p>“Scholars and critics who endeavor to discuss mid-20th century American poetry responsibly ignore Rexroth at their peril.”—<i>Los Angeles Times Book Review</i>, cover feature and selected as a Book of the Year</p><p>“Rexroth is probably best known as the 'Father of the Beat Generation.' These poems reveal that great beauty lies beyond that cliché.”—NPR's <i>All Things Considered</i></p><p>“Rexroth's prodigious breadth of learning, his hungry attention to the natural world, his contempt for warmongering and his profound, occasionally overlapping love of women are all on flourishing display.”—<i>The San Francisco Chronicle</i></p><p>“Rexroth never mistook his poetry for a product, and he could present ideas and images in an urgent, memorable and eloquent way.”—<i>The Nation</i></p><p>“Rexroth is one of the most readable and rewarding 20th-century American poets.”—<i>Booklist</i></p><p><b>Kenneth Rexroth</b> (1905–1982) was one of the world's great literary minds. In addition to being a poet, translator, essayist and teacher, he helped found the San Francisco Poetry Center and influenced generations of readers with his <i>Classics Revisited</i> series.</p></DIV>