[A Kind of Order, A Kind of Folly] represents the varied interests of a poet who first came to public attention with the traditionally thin volume of verse, Intellectual Things, in the 1920s. It has a freshness and a "kind of order, kind of folly" treatment of many contemporary events that is rarely found in a collection of previously published essays, random speeches, and remarks made for "occasional" situations. As a principal participant in the development of American verse since the twenties, [Kunitz] is obviously very knowledgeable about all significant trends since that time, and is also au courant with new poetic activities here and abroad….

Kunitz "keeps" himself contemporary in a way few older poets do, by reading and following younger writers…. Kunitz may be the only poet of his generation who truly knows what is going on among young poets, and his choices are worth considering...