Description
By: Dan Chiasson
A father and husband's meditation on love, adolescence, and the mysterious mechanisms of poetic creation, from the acclaimed poet.
The poet's art is revealed in stages in this "making-of" book, where we watch as poems take shape--first as dreams or memories, then as drafts, and finally as completed works set loose on the world. In the long poem "Must We Mean What We Say," a woman reader narrates in prose the circumstances behind poems and snippets of poems she receives in letters from a stranger. Who made up whom? Chiasson, an acclaimed poetry critic, has invented a remarkable structure where the reader and a poet speak to one another, across the void of silence and mystery. He is also the father of teenaged sons, and this volume continues the autobiographical arc of his prior, celebrated volumes. One long section is about the age of thirteen and the dawning of desire, while the title poem looks at the crucial age of fifteen and the existential threat of climate change and gun violence, which alters the calculus of adolescence. Though the outlook is bleak, these poems register the glories of our moment: that there are places where boys can kiss each other and not be afraid; that small communities are rousing and taking care of each other; that teenagers have mobilized for a better world. All of these works emerge from the secretive imagination of a father as he measures his own adolescence against that of his sons and explores the complex bedrock of marriage. Chiasson sees a perilous world both navigated and enriched by the passionate young and by the parents--and poets--who care for them.
A father and husband's meditation on love, adolescence, and the mysterious mechanisms of poetic creation, from the acclaimed poet.
The poet's art is revealed in stages in this "making-of" book, where we watch as poems take shape--first as dreams or memories, then as drafts, and finally as completed works set loose on the world. In the long poem "Must We Mean What We Say," a woman reader narrates in prose the circumstances behind poems and snippets of poems she receives in letters from a stranger. Who made up whom? Chiasson, an acclaimed poetry critic, has invented a remarkable structure where the reader and a poet speak to one another, across the void of silence and mystery. He is also the father of teenaged sons, and this volume continues the autobiographical arc of his prior, celebrated volumes. One long section is about the age of thirteen and the dawning of desire, while the title poem looks at the crucial age of fifteen and the existential threat of climate change and gun violence, which alters the calculus of adolescence. Though the outlook is bleak, these poems register the glories of our moment: that there are places where boys can kiss each other and not be afraid; that small communities are rousing and taking care of each other; that teenagers have mobilized for a better world. All of these works emerge from the secretive imagination of a father as he measures his own adolescence against that of his sons and explores the complex bedrock of marriage. Chiasson sees a perilous world both navigated and enriched by the passionate young and by the parents--and poets--who care for them.
You may also like
熱銷中 Top Trending
Diary of a Young Girl, The (Paperback) (Anne Frank)
Sale priceHK$57.00
Regular priceHK$80.00
In stock
Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, The (Taylor Jenkins Reid)
Sale priceHK$75.00
Regular priceHK$117.00
In stock
Billy and the Mini Monsters #16 Monsters at Easter
Sale priceHK$46.00
Regular priceHK$84.00
In stock
Football Superstars - Mbappe Rules (Simon Mugford)
Sale priceHK$59.00
Regular priceHK$91.00
In stock
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Wrath of the Triple Goddess International Edition
Sale priceHK$89.00
Regular priceHK$140.00
In stock
Gangsta Granny (Paperback)(David Walliams)(Tony Ross)
Sale priceHK$62.00
Regular priceHK$96.00
In stock
Billionaire Boy (Paperback) (David Walliams) (Tony Ross)
Sale priceHK$60.00
Regular priceHK$96.00
In stock
Bad Guys, The #14 in They're Bee-Hind You! (Aaron Blabey)
Sale priceHK$29.11
Regular priceHK$63.00
In stock
Mac B Kid Spy #03 Top Secret Smackdown (Paperback)(UK) (Mac Barnett)
Sale priceHK$59.00
Regular priceHK$84.00
In stock
Wings of Fire #01 The Dragonet Prophecy (Tui T. Sutherland)
Sale priceHK$62.00
Regular priceHK$72.00
In stock
Longman Weekly English Gramma Exercises (with Gramma Video)
Sale priceHK$71.00
Regular priceHK$83.00
In stock
World's Worst Children, The #1 (Black and White version)
Sale priceHK$63.00
Regular priceHK$104.00
In stock
The Great Detective Sherlock Holmes#1 The Phantom Cry
Sale priceHK$58.00
Regular priceHK$68.00
In stock