Paradise Lost

"Michael Cavanagh brought a lifetime of experience to his fresh, accessible, and exacting book on Milton's Paradise Lost. His primer is both perceptive and pleasurable, or, to use Horace's words, dulce et utile, enjoyable and instructive."—Edward Hirsch, President, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

"Those lucky enough to be introduced to Paradise Lost, as I was nearly half a century ago, by Michael Cavanagh still remember the enchantments of that classroom—as a great teacher explored the deep mysteries and surface delights of the mightiest and most exquisite of all English-language poems. Now, thanks to Scott Newstok, Michael Cavanagh's voice mingles again with Milton's in the pages of this superb study, a 'primer' destined to become a prime critical text."—Sam Tanenhaus, former editor-in-chief of The New York Times Book Review

"This primer, written by  'a captive of Milton' who has taught the poem for years, is much more than an introduction. It is a wonderful work of literary criticism and appreciation"—Mayeutica

"I expect in the next few years that this small book will become ubiquitous — on every reading list, in every library, and, if we are teaching Paradise Lost (and perhaps even if not), on all of our desks. . . . what Cavanagh does so well is to set out the pleasures of working through the puzzles, and to illustrate the delights to be encountered on the way . . . . a book that does something better than any introductory text I have encountered: it allows the reader to enter into the joy of reading this poem. It is an extraordinary legacy."—Milton Quarterly

"Cavanagh's Primer is a lovely book, imagined as an introduction to a reader preparing to venture into Paradise Lost with no assistance . . . one could turn to this book for the refreshment and inspiration . . . Cavanagh has a great gift for unpretentious summary statement. . . . He is often both quotable and accessible—on tone, on diction, on caesural effects."—Studies in English Literature