"The importance, value, and quality of this book are apparent immediately. Brower and Carter have produced an excellent book that I found not only informative, but enjoyable to read. [It] will serve to push waka studies in new directions."
—Robert N. Huey, in the
Journal of Japanese Studies
“This book provides a welcome introduction to a major poet who has heretofore received surprisingly little critical attention. The translation of
Shotetsu monogatari maintains the high standard long associated with the name of Robert H. Brower, a gifted scholar whose premature death was a sad loss to the field; and the illuminating literary biography, copious background information, and meticulous annotation provided by Steven Carter are wholly admirable.”
—Helen Craig McCullough, Professor Emeritus of Oriental Languages, University of California, Berkeley
“This work of superior scholarship is also a monument to the continuity of scholarship. The translation was done by Professor Robert Brower, the pioneer student of Japanese court poetry in the English-speaking world, before Brower’s untimely death; the pioneer student of Japanese court poetry in the English-speaking world; and the introduction and notes are by Professor Steven Carter, a very accomplished scholar from a younger generation. Like most premodern Japanese poetic treatises, the original is fragmented and discursive. Yet it does come together, mysteriously, as a unified view of poetry. Occupying a valley between the mountains of Shin Kokin and Genroku periods, Shotetsu too bespeaks the continuity; this is a well-conceived and executed book.”
—Edward Seidensticker, Professor, Emeritus of Japanese Literature, Columbia University