Poirier and the Canon

Richard Poirier, an esteemed writer and critic, died in August 2009.  This is an excerpt from a Times editorial about his significance:  "He reminds us that we should never be complacent about the glories of the canon, which is made up of texts as frustrating and unfinished as ourselves. And he suggests that linking and hyperlinking are no substitute for a sustained encounter with the great writers of the past, who were themselves both tormented and thrilled by “what words were doing to them and what they might do in return."  Download R.Poirer