Inventors (Critical Overview)

Critical Overview

“Inventors” was included in Blumenthal’s first collection of poetry, Sympathetic Magic. Howard Nemerov compared the collection to American poet Wallace Stevens’s first book, saying, “The last first book I remember as having this strangeness and distinction was called Harmonium.” “Inventors” has also been reprinted in anthologies. Richard Ellman and Robert O’Clair, editors of the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, include it in their sampling of Blumenthal’s work, praising Blumenthal’s poetry for its “verbal energy” and observing that Blumenthal “likes to assume the role of poetic ringmaster and put the language through its paces.” In a more critical vein, Mary Karr takes the poem to task for its lack of clarity. In her essay, “Against Decoration,” Karr links Blumenthal to a group of writers — including Brad Leithauser, Rosanna Warren, and Gjertrud Schnackenberg — that she labels “neo-formalist” for allegedly using language for mostly decorative purposes.