The Enigmatic Narrator

The Author: George Klawitter holds a master's degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan, and a doctorate in British Renaissance Literature from the University of Chicago. He has edited the poetry of Richard Barnfield and published numerous articles in medieval and Renaissance studies.

"Klawitter's book is a contribution to the critical project of Renaissance gender studies. 'The Enigmatic Narrator' is bound to have an impact on Donne studies. Claiming for Donne's poetry a new element - the narrator's tender feelings for men - it challenges the way Donne has been read in the past." (Diana Treviño Benet, New York University).
"'The Enigmatic Narrator' is a courageous book, providing a cogent recontextualization of Donne's secular poetry amid the discourse of same-sex male love. Reading the poems liberated from heterosexual presuppositions, Klawitter offers the most sustained and compelling account available of Donne's verse letters to his male friends. No one who has read this provocative book will be able to read Donne's erotic poems in the exclusively heterosexual context that traditional criticism has provided. With this book, Klawitter assumes an important position in the current project of reinterpreting Renaissance literature through the lenses made available by gay studies." (Michael Schoenfeldt, The University of Michigan)
"Admirers of Donne's poetry will want to obtain this book." (John Lauritsen, The James White Review)