“Gunn would be an important figure—rewarding, delightful, accomplished, enduring—in the history of English-language poetry even were his life not as fascinating as it now seems; he would be an important figure in the history of gay writing and in the history of transatlantic literary relations even were his poetry not so good as it is. With his life as it was and his works as they are, he’s an obvious candidate for a volume of retrospective and critical essays, and this one is first-rate.”

Stephen Burt, Harvard University

“Since his death in 2004, poetry on both sides of the Atlantic has missed Thom Gunn—his gusto, his candor, his tact, his persistent doubleness, his unfolding sympathies, his freedom from fixed ideas. This important collection of critical prose, a tribute, a reappraisal, and an extension of his life and work, returns Gunn to our attention in his living power. Poetry will be glad of it.”

Langdon Hammer

“Academically pith and wise, [At the Barriers is] scholarship that’s heartfelt, intellectually rigorous, yet rarely wandering into academic lexicons that might alienate a wider readership. . . . I could not embrace Gunn’s work as fully if it were not for this deeply moving tribute that serves as a model of literary criticism: it helps us love more intelligently.”

Michael Morse | Provincetown Arts