Reflections on Espionage: The Question of Cupcake

This book-length poem by one of the major poets of our era is structured as a series of messages transmitted by a master spy to the director of spy operations and to a number of his fellow spies. The spy speaks of his own alienation and sense of purposelessness as a secret agent-a metaphor for a human existence committed to ordering, deciphering, and making sense of a world of random signs. First published in 1974, the book is now reprinted with a substantial introduction by the author that elaborates on the genesis of the poem, the literary figures who inspired some of the characters, the poem's reception, and other matters. *Reviews of the earlier edition:* "These poems can be read and admired for their fluidity, their wonderful diversity of significance. . . . Many delights."-Richard Poirier, *Los Angeles Times* "Hollander's arch and subtle long poem allegorizes the mirror closeness between raveller and unraveller."-George Steiner, *New Yorker* "Hollander explores with wit and virtuosity the pleasures of poetry (encipherment) and the trials of the workaday world (one's 'cover.') . . . A rich, intelligent poem . . . a special pleasure for those with an ear for allusions, parodies, and puns."-*Library Journal*