While W.B. Yeats' occultism has long been acknowledged, Surette is the first to show that Ezra Pound's early intimacy with Yeats was based largely on a shared interest in the occult, and that Pound's The Cantos is a deeply occult work. Surette argues that Pound's editing of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land was not motivated primarily by stylistic concerns, as has generally been contended by the New Critics, but by thematic considerations. In fact, it was precisely because Eliot knew Pound to be well informed about the occult that he asked for Pound's assistance with The Waste Land.

Leon Surette has taught at the UBC (1962-4), the U. of Guelph (1966-70); Queen’s University, Kingston, Ont. (Visiting 1979-80), and Western until mandatory retirement in July 2004. He has published seven books, five currently available. The latest is Art in the Age of the Machine. Self-published Ebook, Amazon 2013.

Leon Surette's profile page

"Surette's study will be a controversial work of literary history, but it is one that deserves respect for its wide-ranging scholarship, its wit, and the thoughtful subtlety and restraint with which he presents his challenging thesis." E.F. Harden, Choice. "A good book on a great theme. It should, and will, alter the way we read the 20th century." Chris Scott, The Ottawa Citizen.