"Words, words, words is a wide-ranging collection of literary essays that astonish the reader with their candor, insight, and generosity. Here we also get to find out what Bowering most cherishes about writers and writing: who was Al Purdy was; what David McFadden's work pays attention to; when the world of poetry changed; where Artie Gold appeared as a light fixture in our darkness; how bpNichol's Martyrology legitimized the vernacular; why we cannot read history without encountering Shakespeare."--P. [4] of cover.