One Toss of the Dice: The Incredible Story of How a Poem Made Us Modern [Hardcover]

In the tradition of There is only one poet capable of capturing the infinite in such a small space, and, we can now add, only one critic capable of capturing the mind-altering qualities of St?phane Mallarm?s?1897 poem, One Toss of the Dice. That a family man, a high school English teacher, and a follower of fashion could have unleashed the potential of the World Wide Web over a century ago is among the many revelations in R. Howard Blochs astonishing book. A vivid evocation, at moments hilarious and at others poignant, of the astonishing world that gathered around the poet St?phane Mallarm?.&And at the center, gathering moment as the story unfolds, is Mallarm?s creation of his supremely radical poem. This was the poem that, in the 1920s, long after Mallarm?s apparently obscure death, compelled T. S. Eliot to recognize that every battle this French poet fought with syntax represents the effort to transmit lead into gold, ordinary language into poetry. And the rest of Mr. Blochs beautifully clear book explains A tour de force by a brilliant scholar dedicated to the most mysterious of poets. US