Could there be a secret plot to make Jeff Clark into the next Robert Lowell? I think I've finally figured it out. What I was missing was that Ron Silliman is actually part of the conspiracy. There was a danger that, by being published by a big "trade" house better known for publishing Nobel Prize winners and assorted riff-raff, Clark would lose his avant-post "cred." So Silliman steps in with a strategic, pre-emptive attack. Knowing full well that this attack will provoke others to jump to Jeff's defense. It almost doesn't matter whether the book is good or not at this point. And most people don't really care about where a book is published. Shouldn't that be a secondary consideration anyway?