David Hess warns then unwarns then sorta warns even so. I don't think these general interests in certain writers at certain times are fads, but too much agreement is stultifying. personally, I'm waiting to find out why Harryette Mullen is spoken of so often. why latch onto her work particularly, as distinguished from _____. the canon can be pushy, in the sense that folks in the 50s and 60s might've felt bullied by Ginsberg or Olson. with living writers, the push of their work can be linked to personal charisma or some social factor (I don't mean the Jorie effect). I'm not writing off Mullen, but her work hasn't stopped me in my path as I glean it has with others. I could posit other names instead of Mullen. sometimes it is good just to be disagreeable. I mean I want to be a savvy critical reader, I just don't want to get caught in a crowd.