Paper Trails: Beautiful & Pointless

Why read poetry? So asks New York Times poetry critic David Orr. And his answer is that you don't have to. Poetry does not give us courage, or change the world, or save lives. But that does not mean it can't change your life.

Orr is that too-rare breed of bird: the poetry critic who is willing, indeed eager, to discuss the absurdities of the poetry world and the obscurity of much contemporary poetry. In his book — and in his Paper Trails interview — he also focuses on the grand and timeless, like Elizabeth Bishop and that purveyor of nonsense verse, Edward Lear (inventor of the "runcible spoon").

Orr, you may want to know, is not beloved of the poetry world. In fact, he is occasionally, if not widely, loathed. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't listen to this interview. It probably means you should.

Host Mark Oppenheimer and guest David Orr are joined by panelists Charles Douthat and Willard Spiegelman.