More Dynamite anthologizes a wealth of essays by a writer with one of the keenest critical eyes of his generation. Craig Raine-poet, critic, novelist, Oxford don and editor-turns his fearsome and unflinching gaze on subjects ranging from Kafka to Koons, Beckett to Babel. He waxes lyrical about Ron Mueck's hyperreal sculptures and reassesses the metafiction of David Foster Wallace. For Raine, no element of cultural output is insignificant, be it cinema, fiction, poetry, or installation art. Finding solace in both literature and art alike and finding moments of truth and beauty where others had stopped looking, More Dynamite will reinvigorate readers, challenge our perceptions of the classics and wonderfully affirm our love of good writing, new and old. This extensive collection of essays is a crash course in twentieth century artistic endeavour-nothing short of a master class in high culture from one of the most discerning minds in contemporary British letters.
"For more than 20 years, Craig Raine's essays have appeared in the best of Britain's thinking press, not least in these pages. This collection amounts to a critical survey of over a century of literature and art... What [Raine] brings to them all is a daunting frame of reference... It makes familiar figures seem fresh."
New Statesman
"Inventive, frequently charming, but unapologetically opinionated... Raine's exuberant iconoclasm is always worth watching in full swing."
Daily Telegraph
"[Raine] is still - and always will be - an incredibly stylish writer."
