[3] The book takes its title from a 17th-century poem by Robert Herrick, and deals with questions about subjectivity and individuality versus the collective.
[4] Proxies is a collection of 24 single-subject essays that concludes with a 21-page rolling endnote, "Correction."
In a starred review, Publishers Weekly noted that "in each entry Blanchfield picks a subject—foot washing, authorship, owls—and examines it from several angles until the connection between metaphysical principle and lived experience suddenly crystallizes, often producing an analogy as surprising as it is lovely.
"[5] Blanchfield's poems and essays have been published by The Nation,[6] Harper's Magazine,[7] BOMB,[8] The Paris Review,[9] Brick,[10] Conjunctions,[11] Guernica,[12] and other publications.
He has taught creative writing at the Pratt Institute, Otis College of Art and Design, the University of Montana, the University of Arizona, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop.