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The book explores the complex composition of The Cantos, the massive modernist epic poem by Ezra Pound. It explicitly focuses on how Pound gathered and transformed a massive variety of real-world, obscure historical records into experimental poetry. Some of the contents: Sigismondo's Forgotten "Post-Bag" (Canto 9)Pound became obsessed with Sigismondo Malatesta, an infamous 15th-century Italian warlord 2. Ancient Chinese Magic Mirrors and Edicts (Canto 85) 3. Renaissance Bank Charters (Cantos 42–43)While most poets write about love, nature, or tragedy, Pound dedicated entire sections of his epic to the dry founding documents, charters, and accounting ledgers of the Monte dei Paschi bank of Siena from 1624. 4. Private Presidential Feuds (Cantos 62–71)Furia documents how Pound obsessed over early American history, particularly the private papers, legal codes, and diaries of John Adams and Martin Van Buren. Pound weaves in Adams's chaotic notes on the Boston Massacre, legal contracts