From Powells.com
Celebrated for her skill at capturing ordinary moments and distilling their details, Mary Oliver reverently presents in these forty poems the extraordinary beauty that exists in nature. With a contagious sense of awe, she draws meaning from her natural surroundings, sharing her observations in a clear, inspired voice. Though Oliver worked alone for approximately twenty-five years before placing significant emphasis on publishing her work, she quickly gained a large and devoted following once her writing came to public view. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 and the National Book Award in 1992, and has published more than ten volumes of poetry. What Do We Know is sure to delight her fans and dazzle those new to her work. Malia, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
For the many admirers of Mary Oliver's dazzling poetry and luminous vision, as well as for those who may only now be discovering her work, What Do We Know will be a revelation and, in the words of Stanley Kunitz, a blessing. These forty poems--of observing, of searching, of pausing, of astonishment, of giving thanks--embrace in every sense the natural world, its unrepeatable moments and its ceaseless cycles. Mary Oliver evokes unforgettable images--from one hundred white-sided dolphins on a summer day to bees that have memorized every stalk and leaf in a field--even as she reminds us, after Emerson, that the invisible and imponderable is the sole fact.What was most wonderful?The sea, and its wide shoulders;the sea and its triangles;the sea lying back on its long athlete's spine.What did you think was happening?The green breast of the hummingbird;the eye of the pond;the wet face of the lily;the bright, puckered knee of the broken oak;the red tulip of the fox's mouth;the up-swing, the down-pour, the frayed sleeve of the first snow--so the gods shake us from our sleep.--from Gratitude
Review
"Oliver's poems are thoroughly convincing as genuine, moving, and implausible as the first caressing breeze of spring." The New York Times
Review
"What good company Mary Oliver is!" Los Angeles Times
Review
"A great poet....She is amazed but not blinded." The Boston Globe
Review
"The gift of Oliver's poetry is that she communicates the beauty she finds in the world and makes it unforgettable." Miami Herald
About the Author
Mary Oliver is the author of more than ten volumes of poetry and prose, including
American Primitive, New and Selected Poems, A Poetry Handbook, West Wind, Rules for the Dance, Winter Hours, and, most recently,
The Leaf and the Cloud, which was both a
Boston Globe and a Book Sense best seller.
Her many accolades include the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Lannan Literary Award; in 1999 she received the New England Book Award for Literary Excellence from the New England Booksellers Association.