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Original Essays | September 23, 2009

Jonathan Lethem: IMG Stops: On Those Things My New Novel Forgot to Be About, Maybe

0 comments By Jonathan Lethem

For me, there's a weird, unfathomable gulf — I almost wrote gulp — between the completion of a novel and its publication. Some days this duration feels interminable, as though the book has... Continue »
  1. $19.56 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    Chronic City

    Jonathan Lethem

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- Local Warehouse Poetry- African American
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American Dreams

by Sapphire

American Dreams Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In the tradition of Alice Walker, this electrifying new African American voice delivers the verdict on the urban condition in a sensual, propulsive, and prophetic book of poetry and prose.

Whether she is writing about an enraged teenager gone "wilding" in Central Park, fifteen-year-old Latasha Harlins gunned down by a Korean grocer, or a brutalized child who grows up to escape her probable fate through the miracle of art, Sapphire's vision in this collection of poetry and prose is unswervingly honest.

"Stunning . . . . One of the strongest debut collections of the '90s."--Publishers Weekly

Synopsis:

In the tradition of Alice Walker, an electrifying new African American voice delivers the verdict on the urban condition in a sensual, propulsive, and prophetic book of poetry and prose. "Stunning . . . . One of the strongest debut collections of the '90s."--Publishers Weekly.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Beriah, January 2, 2007 (view all comments by Beriah)
While it is true that Sapphire is not writing anything unknown, it is also true that what she is writing is extremely personal. Her voice and her poetic honesty are a rare beauty. One gets the sense--that is hard to locate in contemporaries--that Sapphire wrote these poems for herself, regardless of audience or publication. Truth is beauty and beauty truth!
The title poem "American Dreams" is a bold revitalization of its predesessors i.e. Ginsberg's "America." If Sapphire is remembered for nothing else I hope this single gem of a poem becomes cannonical!
Reviews seem to be very mixed, but love her or hate her you should definately READ this stellar poet!
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780679767992
Author:
Sapphire
Publisher:
Vintage Books USA
Location:
New York :
Subject:
City and town life
Subject:
American
Subject:
American - General
Subject:
Anthologies (multiple authors)
Subject:
American poetry (collections)
Subject:
Violence
Subject:
Afro-American lesbians -- Literary collections.
Subject:
American - African American
Subject:
African American lesbians
Edition Description:
1st Vintage Books ed.
Series Volume:
no. 6332
Publication Date:
June 1996
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
192
Dimensions:
799x518x57 48
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