Aggregate of Disturbances (Iowa Poetry Prize) [Paperback]

Michele Glazer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Iowa Poetry Prize | Publication Date: April 1, 2004

In Aggregate of Disturbances, Michele Glazer confronts the slipperiness of language and perception as she probes natural processes—the lives of insects, the uncertainty of love, and the deaths of human beings. Nature’s beauty interests Glazer less than the fact that it is chaotic, amoral, redundant, charming, and indifferent to human concern—qualities that are, in these poems, turned into another kind of beauty. "The stalk was knocked flat & the allium’s great lavender sphere / kissed the dirt & in the aftermath the pendulous blossomed / tip bobbed like a wand madly attempting to enchant-enchant-enchant. // I wanted to believe that it happened to amuse me."

These taut lyrical poems negotiate between desire for something irrefutable and an uneasy bedrock of paradox. In the interstices, Aggregate of Disturbances breaks open language and experience to offer a glimpse of "the eye on the other side."

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Like the processes of the natural world which are the frequent object of her close observations, Michele Glazer’s poems build up complexity from seemingly simple things—an arm raising a fork, fairy shrimp transparent as desire, a dog's mouth full of feathers. ‘In the blind I am all eyes,’ and her gaze is clear and deep. This book’s elegies, unflinchingly focused on the body that is lost or being lost, remind us that we too are part of the natural world and subject to its inexorable laws, the first of which is death. Glazer wrests assumptions from the lightness of her words to look behind assumptions and open up words: ‘strangeness arranges itself around her.’ This book makes pattern and promise out of its accumulated agitations.”—Reginald Shepherd, author of Otherhood

“Aggregate of Disturbances is a stunning collection of meditations on language, landscape, and loss. Glazer is comfortable writing any kind of poem and moves easily between language poetry and metaphoric or narrative lyric modes. This is one of the most original and vibrant collections of poetry that I have read in a long while.”—Sheryl St. Germain, author of Swamp Songs: The Making of an Unruly Woman

“Michele Glazer is a poet of rare integrity—integrity of mind, heart, and expression. Aggregate of Disturbances springs from the inside of nuance and feeling. One senses at every turn how clear-eyed yet emotionally committed this writing is. At once dispassionate and tender, sexy, and edgy. A singular voice, killer diction, a tough mind, and a vulnerable heart. This is exceptional writing, of that striking quality that compels rereading and rewards it.”—Marvin Bell

From the Publisher

Winner of the 2003 Iowa Poetry Prize

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 68 pages
• Publisher: University Of Iowa Press (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877458782
• ISBN-13: 978-0877458784
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,546,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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