The Age of Huts (compleat)

“For readers who have not read Silliman before, The Age of Huts is a fine place to start. It collects some of his best early work, and it also foregrounds some of the major concerns of the Language poets: the relationship between language and politics, the effects of grammar and syntax upon representation, and the function of poetry in a postindustrial society. . . . At a distance of three decades, Silliman’s early work remains valuable not only for its importance within an avant-garde tradition but also for its continuing relevance today.”

— Rain Taxi

“In Silliman’s hands, language—so often manipulated for political coercion and economic gain—is restored to its most mechanical, primal functions, upending our ideas of the poem and of the sentence, and reawakening us to what it is we’re doing when we’re reading, writing, thinking.”

— Boston Review

“The Age of Huts is a shining example of what the language poetry school has contributed to contemporary letters. . . . Silliman is actively reshaping what poetry means and causing us to rethink the very nature of language. Can you ask for more than that from any artist? If The Age of Huts provides any indication, we're witnessing the development of what is sure to be a defining literary project of the postmodern era.”

— Baton Rouge Advocate