The Metaphor of Celebrity: Canadian Poetry and the Public, 1955-1980

‘The Metaphor of Celebrity is an engrossing read because of the balance that the text strikes…That I am left for wanting more of the text is, from my point of view, an excellent challenge to the writer.’

Kit Dobson, English Studies in Canada, vol 40:2-3: 2015

‘A book that can and will act as a critical touchstone as celebrity continues to evolve and involve itself in the “literariness” and visibility texts.’

Owen Percy, Canadian Literature 223 / winter 2014

“I highly recommend The Metaphor of Celebrity, a fascinating, well-researched, thoughtful, and historically significant book on a vital period of Canadian poetry. This study is a major contribution to research, advancing an important and timely dialogue that will have implications for further study of modernist poetry and Canadian poetry in general.  It is also immensely readable, and I am eager to talk about it among my colleagues.”

Priscila Uppal, Department of English, York University

“The Metaphor of Celebrity is an invaluable source for contextualizing and assessing the work of four major Canadian writers. Joel Deshaye makes evident the elevating and enervating qualities of celebrity, and with his attention to their crucial shaping of the presentation and reception of Canadian literature between the mid-1950s and early 1980s, he creates a vital historical lens through which we can view contemporary Canadian concerns with cultural identity.”

J.A. Wainwright, Department of English, Dalhousie University