A Field Guide to "A Guide to Dungeness Spit"

Don Precosky teaches English at the College of New Caledonia and is the
co-editor of Four Realities: Poets of Northern B.C.

This book about American writer David Wagoner’s poem “A Guide to
Dungeness Spit” is neither a review nor academic criticism. According
to the cover blurb, the book “pays homage” to Wagoner’s poem, and
in some ways it does. It might more accurately be described, however, as
a meditation inspired by Wagoner’s poem and concerned with becoming an
independent piece of literary (as opposed to critical) writing.

Collage is Ricou’s medium. He pieces together fragments from letters,
local lore, his own experiences, Wagoner’s writings, and tourist
pamphlets. The result is a book about a triad of subjects: a poem, a
place, and Ricou’s subjective responses to both. Unfortunately, none
of these components receives adequate exposition. The notion of a guide
to a guide is intriguing, but Ricou’s rather lethargic piece is not
likely to inspire many readers to become acquainted with Wagoner’s
work.