WILDLY ROMANTIC

In an attempt to attract potentially unwilling teen readers to “classic” literature, Andronik presents a sensationalized and overly simplistic account of the lives of well-known Romantics such as Coleridge, Keats and Byron, complete with lurid chapter titles like, “Dead Poets” and “Dead Babies.” The author presents a bit of biography in each chapter, stressing the most sensational (and often the least documented) details of these poets’ lives and neglecting, for the most part, to explain or explore the literary and philosophical ideas that make them so important. Following each chapter is a selection of poems, for which Andronik offers no interpretation or commentary—though she does, unfortunately, imply by their selection and placement that they are to be interpreted solely in light of the brief and undocumented biographical context she offers. Citations are provided only for the few direct quotations incorporated in the text, and the bibliography and Further Reading and Viewing sections leave much to be desired. While this text may entice a few reluctant readers to explore this world, it lacks sufficient detail, context and bibliographical information to provide anything more than a springboard to other, more solid and authoritative texts. (Nonfiction. YA)