Actual Air [Paperback]

David Berman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1999

David Berman reinvents the overlooked and seemingly ordinary details of everyday life--from the suitcase of a departing girlfriend to a baseboard electrical outlet. His poems chart a course through his own highly original American dreamscape in language that is fresh, accessible, and remarkably precise. This debut collection has received extraordinary acclaim from readers and reviewers alike and is quickly becoming a cult classic. As Pulitzer Prize-winning poet James Tate said, "These poems are beautiful, strange, intelligent, and funny. . . . It's a book for everyone."

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

"David Berman is a young Virginian poet with a sly, intense regard for the past. He comes on like a prankster, restocking the imperial orations of Wallace Stevens and the byzantine monologues of John Ashbery with the pop-cultural bric-a-brac of a new generation: 'I am not a cub scout seduced by Iron Maiden's mirror worlds.' But his words have and easy, eloquent gait; each line needs to be a line. The landscapes are crisply American, and history, especially Southern history, casts a shadow. A poem about the death of Lincoln ends, 'The assassin was in mid-air/when the stagehands wheeled out the clouds.'"

Review

"Actual Air is actual poetry. Berman is on a mission to make the world strange, to find in the doo-dads of daily life a profound weirdness . . . which makes for a rarity in contemporary poetry." -- Spin, June 1999

"Actual Air is one of the funniest, smartest, and sweetest books of the year, a collection of snapshots colored ecstatically outiside the lines. This is the absurd American sublime, poetry that raises the stakes on the everyday and bluffs the blunders." -- GQ, July 1999

"Berman's debut announces the discovery of a great American poetic storytelling voice by a new generation." -- Publisher's Weekly, June 28, 1999

"In Berman's universe, time slips lazily on by, life thoroughly strange and perpetually interesting . . .Berman is very much alive to life's nuances, even in what many might think of as bland surroundings." -- Time Out New York, May 27, 1999

"When was the last time you picked up a volume of poetry and found yourself hanging on every word, reading it all the way through in a single sitting and then going back to the beginning? This first collection from Berman is that kind of book. Full of casually sharp observations about the most mundane subjects. Air is funny, weird, and profound, whether it's tackling the nature of hallways or the architecture of back pain." -- Entertainment Weekly, July 30, 1999

Berman's is a funny, smart, on-again, off-again poetry of great promise. -- The New York Times Book Review, David Kirby

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 93 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press, Open City Books; 1 edition (July 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890447048
• ISBN-13: 978-1890447045
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars lost and found again, December 10, 1999

By 

joshua Elrod (A flourescent office) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Actual Air (Paperback)

A copy of this book is bumping along the bottom of the Colorado River heading toward Lake Mead. But before it went overboard: One afternoon in camp, while someone was cooking dinner, I was reading the Lincoln poem out loud to another guy on the trip. By the time I read a third selection from the book (at my friend's request) five or six other people had gathered around and were listening. I don't think any of us read poetry for recreation, but this book resonates, we could all tell that; and it was written with the ambition of being human, and as Grand as the Canyon. It ticks me off that this review protocal forces me to assign a number of stars. You can't count stars.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as a Jews album, which is a good thing...., September 6, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Nova Scotia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Actual Air (Paperback)

I bought this because I love the Silver Jews and Berman's words are probably the best part of their music. Like his lyrics, this is brilliant, thought-provoking, and clever... not pretensious at all in my opinion (see guy below). The best description that keeps popping into my head is "full of revelations".. maybe *that* is pretensious but that's what i think. My favorite "revelation" (or "pretensious" moment, if you think): "As a way of getting in touch with my origins / every night I set the alarm clock / for the time I was born, so that waking up / becomes a historical reenactment". Simply a very enjoyable, funny read all the way through. If you like the Joos, get this. If you like this, get some Silver Jews. If you don't know either...try one!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Actual Air made me taller and more handsome!, May 6, 2000

By 

Adam Tetzloff (Iowa City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Actual Air (Paperback)

Saint David the prolific is once again saving our souls. The book carries an honesty and clarity rare in modern poetry, or modern life for that matter. The works here harken back to a time earlier this evening, as you sat at the table, staring at your glass of milk and wondering why your older brother never calls you. It's a simple choice for you, read it now or spend hours agonizing about the time you wasted without these words in your heart. When your heart swells you will understand. May the Silver Jew ride off into the sunset, in a chevy nova listening to steppenwolf. Berman, I salute you.