De/compositions

the long version

"Pulitzer Prize-winning poet W.D. Snodgrass redefines poetry criticism by illustrating how the poems we love could have been written differently or worse or badly. Snodgrass actually rewrites poems by authors ranging from Elizabeth Bishop to Shakespeare, and displays the reworked version side-by-side with the original, so one can appreciate the subtle shifts that occur - word by word, line by line, stanza by stanza - and gain a better understanding of the merits of the original work."--BOOK JACKET.