The art of subtraction : new and selected poems / by Jay Parini.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Parini, Jay.

Contributor:

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Penn Provenance:

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Physical Description:

130 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : George Braziller, [2005]

Summary:

In The Art of Subtraction: New and Selected Poems, Jay Parini brings together a suite of 59 new poems with 43 poems from his previous collections. These poems represent his best work of the past three decades, a testament to his constantly evolving vision. The new poems open with a sequence responding to 9/11 and the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. These sharp, caustic, mournful poems are political poetry of a high order. The second sequence of new work deals with personal themes, while the third continues Parini's exploration of the relationship between language and mind. The poems from his previous three collections (Anthracite Country, Town Life, and House of Days) have been carefully chosen to represent the full range of his poetic voice. As ever, he remains a poet steeped in the traditions of English and American poetry, a poet whose clarity and strict eye combine with a highly musical sense of phrasing and a relentless sense of humor. He remains a poet who, as the London Times Literary Supplement has said, "represents the best in American poetry."

Contents:

New Poems

After the Terror

After the Terror 13

In Time of War 14

The Prophets 15

The Lost Soldiers 16

State of the Union 17

Occupied Country 18

Sleeping through the Storm 19

Lion's Den 20

Big Top Blues 21

God's Problem 22

Listening to the BBC World Service, Late at Night 23

At the Mannequin Convention 24

The President Alone 25

Democracy 26

In the Village of the New Century 27

Penelope 28

Fish-Eye View

Fish-eye View 31

Peaches 32

Parking in the Convertible at Night 33

High School 34

Family Reunion 35

Misjudgments 36

The Imperial Bedchamber 37

The Big Picture 38

Covenant in April 39

Crow's Nest 40

Old Teams 41

The Broken Neck 42

Leo 43

Rise 44

The Living Rooms of South Rebecca 45

The Trees are Gone 46

Waiting Room 47

Before a Journey 48

White Cane

Ethel at the Hearth 51

Borges in Scotland 52

After the Big Bang 53

Mind 54

A Short Address to the Academy of Silence 55

White Cane 57

Power Stations 58

The Lost Manuscripts 59

Near Old Meldrum, After a Funeral 60

Belief 61

After Hours 62

By the Light of Morning Snow 63

Large Projects 64

A Life Sentence 65

Origin of a Species 66

Hiding in Plain Sight 67

The Crucifixion 68

The Heaven Train 69

The Pope on the Subway 70

Judas in his Cups 71

Appleseed 73

Late Thoughts 75

The Art of Subtraction 76

Outcrops 77

Rock and Water 78

Selected Poems

from Anthracite Country (1982)

Beginning the World 81

Walking the Trestle 82

Playing in the Mines 83

The Missionary Visits Our Church in Scranton 84

The Miner's Wake 85

Coal Train 86

Snake Hill 87

The Lackawanna at Dusk 88

Anthracite Country 89

Learning to Swim 90

The Sea Lily 91

Amores (after Ovid) 92

Swimming in Late September 94

To His Dear Friend, Bones 95

This Reaping 96

Skater in Blue 97

Summer People 98

Black Week 99

Near Aberdeen 100

from Town Life (1988)

The Visitors 103

Differentiation 104

Crops 105

History 106

In the Sphere of Common Duty 107

Reading through the Night 108

The Function of Winter 109

Suburban Swamp 110

Passing through Vermont on Three Martinis 111

This Kampuchea 112

Grandmother in Heaven 114

At the Ruined Monastery in Amalfi 115

from House of Days (1998)

Stars Falling 117

Swimming after Thoughts 118

Rain before Nightfall 120

The Lake House in Autumn 121

A Killing Frost 122

The Lost Scent 123

To My Father in Late September 124

1954 125

The Crow-Mother Tells All 126

A Conversation in Oxford 127

Near Pitlochry 129

I Was There 130.

Local Notes:

Gotham Book Mart Collection copy has dustjacket retained.

ISBN:

0807615471

0807615463

OCLC:

57002189