Loa: books tagged “loa” @ BookFinder.com

ISBN 9781883011789 (1-883011-78-7, 1883011787)

American Poetry: The Twentieth Century E.E. Cummings to May Swenson

by Library of America

ISBN 1883011787 (1-883011-78-7)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA

Find This Book

› Find signed collectible books: 'American Poetry: The Twentieth Century E.E. Cummings to May Swenson'

Book summary:

If the first three decades of the 20th century mark the real birth of American poetry, then the following three might be considered a long and sometimes contentious adolescence. Not that there's anything juvenile about the work of Hart Crane, Elizabeth Bishop, Langston Hughes, or Theodore Roethke--quite the opposite. But after the fireworks of early modernism, there's a sense of American poetry finally coming into its own, multifarious identity. And the editors of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, Volume Two: E.E. Cummings to May Swenson--i.e., the same Gang of Five that compiled the stellar first volume--have done very handsomely by the era.

Again there are generous servings of the indisputable giants, from Hughes to Roethke to the underrated Louise Bogan. Perhaps the editors have been too generous with Cummings's lowercase frolics, but there is a historical argument to be made in his favor: who else gave modernism such a human (not to say antic) face? Hart Crane certainly gets his due, with nearly 40 pages devoted to the linguistic spans of "The Bridge," and Elizabeth Bishop's section alone is worth the price of admission--indeed, I'd push cash on the barrelhead simply to read the exquisite conclusion to "Over 2000 Illustrations and a Complete Concordance":

&Why couldn't we have seen
this old Nativity while we were at it?
--the dark ajar, the rocks breaking with light,
an undisturbed, unbreathing flame,
colorless, sparkless, freely fed on straw,
and, lulled within, a family with pets,
--and looked and looked our infant sight away.

As they did in the first volume, the editors have included a smattering of song lyrics, from Blind Lemon Jefferson to Frank Loesser. And while purists may sniff at these confections from Tin Pan Alley, you won't find any more memorable, slang-slinging light verse in this century. There's also the organizational principle of the book to reckon with. The poets have been arranged according to date of birth, with the cutoff year fixed at 1913--which explains the absence of Randall Jarrell (b. 1914) or Robert Lowell (b. 1917), who certainly ran with Elizabeth Bishop's poetic pack. Still, this strictly chronological system has produced some delightful surprises. What other anthology would slot country-blues avatar Robert Johnson between Paul Goodman and Josephine Miles? Or John Cage between Tennessee Williams and William Everson? These are miniature lessons in cultural border-busting, which is what the entire volume accomplishes on a larger and infinitely pleasurable scale. --James Marcus [via]

More editions of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century E.E. Cummings to May Swenson:

American Poetry: The Twentieth Century E.E. Cummings to May Swenson: ISBN 1883011787 (1-883011-78-7)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA

Arthur Miller: Collected Plays 1944-1961

by Arthur Miller

ISBN 193108291X (1-931082-91-X)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA

Find This Book

› Find signed collectible books: 'Arthur Miller: Collected Plays 1944-1961'

More editions of Arthur Miller: Collected Plays 1944-1961:

Arthur Miller: Collected Plays 1944-1961: ISBN 193108291X (1-931082-91-X)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA

The Autobiography and Other Writings

by Benjamin Franklin, J. A. Leo Lemay

ISBN 0940450291 (0-940450-29-1)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA

Find This Book

› Find signed collectible books: 'The Autobiography and Other Writings'

More editions of The Autobiography and Other Writings:

The Autobiography and Other Writings: ISBN 0940450291 (0-940450-29-1)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA

Baldwin, James: Collected Essays: Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, the Fire Next Time, No Name in the Street, the Devil Finds Work, Other Essays

Collected Essays: Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, the Fire Next Time, No Name in the Street, the Devil Finds Work, Other Essays

by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison

ISBN 1883011523 (1-883011-52-3)
Hardcover, Library of America

Find This Book

› Find signed collectible books: 'Collected Essays: Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, the Fire Next Time, No Name in the Street, the Devil Finds Work, Other Essays'

More editions of Collected Essays: Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, the Fire Next Time, No Name in the Street, the Devil Finds Work, Other Essays: