Is there a slump in Ashbery in Shadow Train and April Galleons and maybe As We Know? It's an arguable point, at least. Early and Early-Mid Ashbery is consistently interesting, up through Houseboat Days, which I had virtually memorized at one point many years ago. I also like the books from Flow Chart and Hotal Lautreamont onward.

There is an 80s mailaise in some of the work of this period. Hell, we were all in a malaise, I think. I'll have to go back and read April Galleons to see what I think.