There is something to Phillip Lopate that may make his followers feel particularly close to him, as if his work were known solely by them and a select few others; that this is not true, that he is in fact an immensely respected writer and scholar, would seem of little importance to these readers.
It may seem that Joanna Newsom would make it easy for others to dismiss or codify her among other largely mocked sorts – her voice is unusual, her lyrics often entrenched in worlds of fable-like precision and peculiarities – but she utilizes her singing and song-writing abilities with