So What

by Frederick Seidel
So What cover
Good Books rating 3.94
Poetry
Technical:
  • ID: 357
  • Added: 2025-09-10
  • Updated: 2025-09-10
  • ISBN: 9780571395958
  • Publisher: Faber & Faber
  • Published: 2025-08-14
  • Formats: 9
  • Reviews: 4
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Waterstones
Paperback • £12.99

In 'So What,' eminent American poet Frederick Seidel races into his tenth decade with a bristling energy, using his art to subvert traditional reflections on aging. The collection blends acuity and playfulness as Seidel confronts vulnerability and rage, refusing to retreat to innocence but instead exploding with life’s contradictions—from love and sex to stark American realities. His poetry summons a tidal surge of vivid imagery and emotional intensity, standing over the wreckage and creation of a long, extraordinary career. Seidel’s work is known for its provocative, sometimes unsettling imagery and its engagement with themes of excess, violence, and social observation. In this collection, he continues to explore these motifs with a disarming combination of humor and seriousness, reflecting on personal and cultural landscapes with a sharp, subversive voice. 'So What' is both a celebration and a critique, capturing the poet’s unique perspective on aging, art, and American life.

Reviews
PN Review · Spencer Hupp · 2025-09-10
thoughtful 3.50

Seidel’s new collection exhibits a tone of diminishing rage mixed with resignation and despondency, marked by impishness that sometimes forces engagement from the reader.

Spencer Hupp finds that 'So What' introduces a new strain in Seidel’s work—a blend of tempered rage and resignation, which lends the poems a somewhat diminished but still potent energy. The collection reflects an overweening impishness that occasionally compels the reader to grapple with its challenging tone. This nuanced emotional landscape gives the book a distinctive voice that balances between defiance and weary acceptance.

Quick quotes

    With this year's So What comes a new strain of diminishment, of rage tempered by resignation or despondency.

    Overweening impishness that sometimes forces engagement.

    Seidel speeds across the island of Manhattan on his racetrack-only Superbike, hurtling into the tenth decade of his life.

Los Angeles Review of Books · Rowland Bagnall · 2025-09-10
complex 4.00

The collection blends genuine sadness with sharp political commentary that oscillates between earnestness and biting satire, tempered by moments of humor and sing-song rhythms.

Rowland Bagnall appreciates how Seidel's new poems carry a streak of real sadness beneath the bravado, with moments of unsettling but sincere human emotion. The political commentary is varied, sometimes as earnest as a social media post and other times as corrosive as a harsh satire, targeting figures like Donald Trump with vivid and provocative language. This mix of tones, combined with Seidel’s signature dark humor and rhythmic style, makes the collection a complex and engaging read that challenges and entertains.

Quick quotes

    So What (2024) is streaked with actual sadness, even if 'Everyone thinks I am the finest and couldn't be finer.'

    The bullying bulk of President Donald Trump—Nero of Mar-a-Lago—Fucks them from behind like a dog.

    The occasional sexist pastiche, too faux-macho to offend anybody under 65, is typically relieved in Seidel’s funny way, by a bit of stinging sing-song.

PN Review · Spencer Hupp · 2025-08-14
reflective 4.00

The collection reveals a shift toward resignation and tempered rage, with Seidel’s impishness still present but mellowed, reflecting on aging and the complexities of life with a nuanced tone.

Spencer Hupp sees 'So What' as marking a new phase in Seidel’s poetry, where the earlier fiery anger is replaced by a quieter, more resigned tone that still carries sharpness and wit. The poems navigate themes of aging and the passage of time with a blend of humor and melancholy, showing Seidel’s characteristic impishness but with a gentler, more reflective edge. This nuanced balance makes the collection feel like a thoughtful meditation on life's diminishing but persistent energies.

Quick quotes

    "With this year's So What comes a new strain of diminishment, of rage tempered by resignation or despondency."

    "Overweening impishness that sometimes forces..."

    "He speeds across Manhattan on his racetrack-only Superbike, hurtling into the tenth decade of his life..."

Los Angeles Review of Books · Claudio · 2025-08-01
provocative 4.25

Seidel's 'So What' mixes raw political commentary with moments of dark humor and satirical takes on contemporary anxieties, balancing sincerity with sharp, unsettling language.

This review explores how Frederick Seidel's 'So What' is infused with both genuine sadness and biting political remarks, often delivered through a mix of bluntness and dark humor. The poems confront modern political figures and social issues with a tone that can feel both earnest and provocatively grotesque, reflecting a complex engagement with the world that oscillates between outrage and irony. The reviewer appreciates Seidel's ability to blend satire with moments of human vulnerability, noting how his poetic voice can be both abrasive and surprisingly tender.

Quick quotes

    "So What (2024) is streaked with actual sadness..."

    "The bullying bulk of President Donald Trump—Nero of Mar-a-Lago—Fucks them from behind like a dog."

    "Middle-class anxiety toward upwardly mobile demographics is also lampooned through a satire of frontier paranoia..."

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