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07-10-09: Alan Cheuse and Nicholas Delbanco Look at Poetry: Craft and Voice : Canon Fodder
This week, I'm looking at Volume 2 of 'Literature, Craft and Voice: Poetry', by Alan Cheuse and Nicholas Delbanco. When it comes to quantum leaps, sometimes it takes one part of the publishing world a while to catch up with the rest of the world. A lot of things have conspired to make books like this possible. Even ten years ago, the production costs would have made it prohibitively expensive.
But with the processes pioneered by folks like DK Books, textbooks like 'Literature, Craft and Voice: Poetry,' are indeed possible and it's really a revolution for the students and as well, for general readers. As with the Fiction volume, Poetry is a great way for readers who want to get to know the latest version of the canon of poetry. The selections are top-notch, the criticism is spot-on and highly informative and the presentation is breathtaking. The four-color format offers revelations you simply could not find in any other, especially in the presentation of the William Blake's work, as illustrated by the author.
In last week's conversation with Alan Cheuse, he likened these books to a 600-page issue of Harper's Magazine, which I think says a lot about the presentation. But what you’re really after in these textbooks is content, sequencing, criticism and commentary. Of course, the content is not simply top-notch, it's also totally up-to-the-minute. If you’re looking for the latest and greatest version of the best poetry in the world, you're going to find it here. Because poetry is a much shorter form to work in, Cheuse and Delbanco are able to really stuff this volume with an immense variety of poetry from poets around the world, and poetry from the 20th century. You'll find Leonard Cohen and Lord Byron, Marge Piercy and Gabriella Mistral. This is a global collection of the best poetry. You read these poems, just the poems and you're going to know more than the entire faculty at most colleges.
But what's key here is sequencing and organization, the commentary and structure that Cheuse and Delbanco provide. This is a carefully planned exploration of the poetic form, premised on the idea that in order to understand poetry you have to first start by enjoying it. So you start with a section on learning to read poems, and move on out from there. The criticisms, questions and assignments that accompany each poem offer the kind of insight that makes the reading experience richer and more rewarding. You'll learn to write about poetry, then go through poems that demonstrate the use of each element in poetry; words, tone, persona, irony, imagery, symbol, sound, rhythm and rhyme. Because this is in fact a college textbook, you'll get a crash course on all the fixed poetic forms — sonnets, sestinas, haiku — and then those which defy form. You'll get a big ol' slab of Langston Hughes, a lovely section on art and poetry, that includes the William Blake bit mentioned above and (because this is etc, etc) a nice slab of "American Plain Style" featuring Robert Frost and emily dickenson. Last but certainly not least, you're going to get a cross section of criticism, including, get this, Marxist Criticism in an American textbook. Not surprising; it is a book of poetry.
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07-09-09: A Review of 'The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power' by Jeff Sharlet : A Secular Pericalypse
As much as some are in love with the apocalypse, so too, am I in love with the pericalypse, a term I've only encountered in Stanislaw Lem's 'A Perfect Vacuum.' Lem's book is a collection of reviews of non-existent books, one of which is titled Pericalypsis. Lem's invented author defines the pericalypse as an apocalypse that has already come to pass, but has gone, "unnoticed in the general haste." The end of the world has come and gone, it seems, but most of us are too busy to pay attention. Not Jeff Sharlet.
As if to affirm the notion of pericalypse, I managed to miss Sharlet's compelling work of non-fiction when it first came out last year in hardcover. Now, 'The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power' (Harper Perennial / HarperCollins ; Jne 2, 2009 ; $15.99) is out as a trade paperback, and that Biblical look in the soft version is positively eerie — but nothing compared to what you'll read within. So this review is belated, but the fact that it is works well within the facts that Sharlet reveals in a story that is both chilling and compelling.
While I'll leave most of my comments about the book for the in-depth review, here it is important to note that this is a book of, appropriately enough, revelation. Sharlet wasn't looking for a big story about secret fundies when he first encountered "The Family." He was looking in on the brother of an old friend and stumbled into an open secret; since the 1930's, a group of Christian fundamentalists has engaged in an organized effort to infiltrate and conquer American government and business from the top down. This is no conspiracy. This is a weekly meeting in the United States Senate. This is The National Prayer Breakfast. This is "one nation, under God," in the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" on our currency. This is not the work of a group that seeks to change the status quo; this is the work of a group that seeks to maintain and extend the status quo. What can we do about it? We can read about it, in this book, share the book and its ideas with our friends. Get the word out to the non-faithful. The end came some 70 years ago. But it is not too late to begin to understand.
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07-08-09: Charles de Lint Finally Sees 'Eyes Like Leaves' : When Faerie Fights, Readers Win
Every writer has to start somewhere, but readers don't always get to see the results. Those origins always cast a shadow on the rest of the writer's work. It can't be helped. And while writers and publishers may not feel a first book or early book should be published, there may come a time when it must be published, when the writer has filled in the shadow originally cast, when the first work can finally be placed in the pantheon.
Subterranean Press has been on a bit of a Charles de Lint binge of late, and readers can reap some real rewards. Note that we recently mentioned a Tachyon Press re-release of 'Medicine Road,' originally done by Sub, now sold out, thus, Tachyon steps in to save the day. Readers looking to get in on an early level of de Lint and publication of a book that will soon be scarce as the faeries it portrays had best hie thee hence to the Subterranean Press website to pre-order a copy of 'Eyes Like Leaves' (Subterranean Press ; November 2009 ; $35), and it's a hell olf a bargain, ain't it?
The premise is actually quite wonderful if not ahead of the time in which it was written. Set in the Green Isles when the world is beginning its slow ascent towards a hellish age of reason (like now), Tarn, wandering the streets of Tallifold, is schooled in the arts of wizardry, and not a moment too soon. Long Tom, Tarn, Puretongue, a unicorn, are all about to mix it up in a manner befitting their God-like status. That is to say, without regard for what becomes of mortals in the general vicinity. Not so good when you're a mortal caught in the cross-fire of dying immortals. More death is going round than ever before. Funny how that all leads to reason.
'Eyes Like Leaves' is de Lint in a mode we've not seen much of, a high-fantasy world with lots of magic hanging out in the open. In a way, it's almost reminiscent of some of Lovecraft's fantasy, but it of course has that unique Charles de Lint-style world-weariness that give his present work such depth and emotional resonance. Things are a bit more raw here, but I think that's more because of the way we expect our high fantasy to operate, that is in a more mythic mode. de Lint like to mate myth and man with a bit of grit and interpersonal emotional relationships that are murkier, more realistic than the silver-sword cleanliness of much high fantasy.
All this of course, you can just add to the fact that here's a beautifully bound and produced, limited edition of an previously unavailable book by an author who is now widely and highly regarded. Given that Sub's de Lint Editions sell out pretty fast, it seems like a good idea to pick this one up now, while it's available, instead of waiting to run a search for it on bookfinder, only to find it's as rare as a faerie and twice as expensive.
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07-07-09: Independent Presses : Small Books, Big Rewards
Weird mysteries are here to stay, and the best thing about them is they'll cross all boundaries of taste, yet still stay weird. Steven Erikson brings back Bauchelain and Korbal Broach in 'The Lees of Laughter's End,' (Night Shade Books ; July, 2009 ; $25) a procedural set in his Malazan, a densely imagined fantasy world, while George Zebrowski's 'Empties' (Golden Gryphon ; July, 2009 ; $24.95) stays closer to home but finds matters far more repugnant.
It's an occupational hazard of being a book reviewer. You see a big book, you get a bit scared. Do I read one 600-page monster or two 300-page novels? You can see where this is going. Straight to the joys of the novella, in this case the latest Bauchelain and Korbal Broach from Steven Erikson The Lees of Laughter's End,' and the new George Zebrowski novel,' Empties,' which while it is a novel, clocks in at a sleek 165 pages. Sure, both novels feature the superior artwork and production values you expect from Night Shade and Golden Gryphon. And both deliver a short, sharp shock, the sort of slick knife to the gut that you don’t really feel until it is too late.
Zebrowski's mystery begins with the impossible and then build on it. When Detective Benek is handed a body with an impossible mutilation, and the victim is a homeless man, well, there's a tendency to brush such matters under the shelf and declare the unsolvable unsolved. But a second victim proves that unsolved will not be an adequate response. Benek's investigations lead him to places that and situations that will make every reader squirm with discomfort. Zebrowski does not pull his punches even if readers might prefer him to do so. 'Empties' is strong stuff, not necessarily (or at least not simply) gory, but disturbing. Real violence is often just ugly, and Zebrowski does not flinch away.
Meanwhile, Bauchelain and Korbal Broach join Emancipor Reese on a little sea journey away from the unpleasant city of Lamentable Moll. Not surprisingly, the ship they are on, Suncurl, houses some secrets best left unquestioned. It’s kind of like discovering you're on the good ship Demeter, ferrying a Wallachian Prince named Dracul to England. Bad luck, eh?
Perhaps for the characters, not so much for the readers, who enjoy these lovely limited editions for a trice and employ age-old drinking games while reading them. For example, swill a beer every time a body part is fond out of place in 'Empties,' or sip a shot of whiskey every time something ancient and powerful stirs while reading 'The Lee's of Laughter's End.' It's summertime and these are books worth your time, worthy your money. The beauty of the short season preserved for a moment in paper and cloth.
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07-06-09: A Review of 'When You Are Engulfed in Flames' by David Sedaris : A Story At the Heart of Life
Everyone lives a life full of events. Things happen. Often, the things that happen to us seem so bizarre or unique that it seems they might be the stuff of entertainment, and we enshrine those events in the stories and anecdotes we tell friends. We all have these stories, but taking them from recollection and anecdote to writing proves to be more difficult than one might anticipate.
David Sedaris is a man of repute for a reason. He's an undeniably entertaining voice on NPR's This American Life, where his witty stories and letter-perfect readings have garnered him an international audience. His recollections of childhood and adulthood, mixed and matched, show why his writing skills are so superb, why his off-the-cuff (at first) seeming anecdotes have the sting of stories. While he seems to offer simple tales of his past or present, there's a supreme level of skill involved and a lot of craft that is utterly invisible except in retrospect. Sedaris manages to turn what for most of us are retreads into sparkling gems of literary wit because he goes beyond anecdote to find the stories that make his writing stand-out and memorable.
His latest collection, 'When You Are Engulfed in Flames' is no exception, well, except where there are exceptions. You'll find a complete book's worth of writing of the sort that made Sedaris famous for a very good reason. He's a very skilled writer whose craft is honed to a level that renders it invisible. But you'll also find some new forms here that show he has a ways to go yet. You can find my review of 'When You Are Engulfed in Flames' by following this link.
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