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Contributors | November 10, 2009

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2 Hawthorne Poetry- A to Z
21 Local Warehouse Anthologies- Essays
1 Remote Warehouse Poetry- A to Z

Plainwater: Essays and Poetry

by Anne Carson

Plainwater: Essays and Poetry Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

The poetry and prose collected in Plainwater are a testament to the extraordinary imagination of Anne Carson, a writer described by Michael Ondaatje as "the most exciting poet writing in English today." Succinct and astonishingly beautiful, these pieces stretch the boundaries of language and literary form, while juxtaposing classical and modern traditions.<P>Carson envisions a present-day interview with a seventh-century BC poet, and offers miniature lectures on topics as varied as orchids and Ovid. She imagines the muse of a fifteenth-century painter attending a phenomenology conference in Italy. She contructs verbal photographs of a series of mysterious towns, and takes us on a pilgrimage in pursuit of the elusive and intimate anthropology of water. Blending the rhythm and vivid metaphor of poetry with the discursive nature of the essay, the writings in Plainwater dazzle us with their invention and enlighten us with their erudition.

Review:

"Breathtaking. . . . A work of gorgeous innovation and a staunch hypnotic intelligence."-The Village Voice

Review:

"Carson has . . . created an individual form and style for narrative verse. . . . Seldom has Pound's injunction 'Make It New' been so spectacularly obeyed." --The New York Review of Books

Review:

"Anne Carson is a philosopher of heartbreak." --The Nation

Synopsis:

The poetry and prose collected in Plainwater are a testament to the extraordinary imagination of Anne Carson, a writer described by Michael Ondaatje as "the most exciting poet writing in English today." Succinct and astonishingly beautiful, these pieces stretch the boundaries of language and literary form, while juxtaposing classical and modern traditions.

Carson envisions a present-day interview with a seventh-century BC poet, and offers miniature lectures on topics as varied as orchids and Ovid. She imagines the muse of a fifteenth-century painter attending a phenomenology conference in Italy. She contructs verbal photographs of a series of mysterious towns, and takes us on a pilgrimage in pursuit of the elusive and intimate anthropology of water. Blending the rhythm and vivid metaphor of poetry with the discursive nature of the essay, the writings in Plainwater dazzle us with their invention and enlighten us with their erudition.

About the Author

Anne Carson's new book, Men in the Off Hours, is available from Knopf. Ms. Carson is the recipient of many awards, including the 1996 Lannan Award and the 1997 Pushcart Prize, both for poetry. She will be teaching at University of California, Berkeley, in the spring of 2000.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780375708428
Subtitle:
Essays and Poetry
Introduction:
Carson, Anne
Author:
Carson, Anne
Publisher:
Vintage Books USA
Location:
New York :
Subject:
Essays
Subject:
Single Author *
Subject:
Poetry (poetic works by one author)
Subject:
Collected works (single author, multi-form)
Subject:
Essays - Single Authors
Edition Description:
1st Vintage Contemporaries ed.
Series Volume:
2990-S
Publication Date:
March 2000
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
272
Dimensions:
8.04x5.18x.61 in. .49 lbs.

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