American Sonnets: Poems [Hardcover]

Gerald Stern (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2002

A collection of 59 sonnets of 20 lines or so by Gerald Stern. It contains sonnets of an autobiographical nature as well as sonnets covering the visionary in surges of memory and language.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As part and parcel of a gruffly expansive plain style, Stern has worked through his Jewish, Rust Belt and working-class roots in book after book, while remaining open to experience from anywhere. Those roots, and the rest of his personal history, dominate this winningly outspoken, if misleadingly titled, sequence, whose "sonnets" are really unrhymed, free-verse poems of 20 or so lines: most consist of a single, sinuous sentence exploring a single moment in Stern's past, "explaining what was opened in my life and what was destroyed," and linking his joys and travails to those of his generation. "Alone" remembers when "I wore two pairs of socks and hid my money"; "You" recalls "the smell of snow in 1940, mixed as it was with coal fumes." Clocks, dogs, dandelions, the Pennsylvania coal country, Manhattan, fellow writers, students, wives, parents, children, gangster cousins and even (in one vivid adaptation) Francois Villon receive exploration and homage. The one-long-sentence strategy avoids monotony by varying its tones, which include the comic ("A string-bean is born every second") and the raunchily sexual, as well as the mournful and the lyrical: he concludes with "a star of the fourth magnitude surrounded by planets, shining on all of us." Stern's verbal strategies land him, this time out, somewhere between W.S. Merwin and Philip Levine; their fans and the fans of Stern's previous verse will surely enjoy these very personal poems.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

To a purist, these 20-something-line poems are only nominally sonnets, but National Book Award winner Stern (In Time, 1998) nevertheless appropriates the term to describe the 59 lyric vessels into which he has poured seven decades' worth of personal reminiscences and observations on everything from Studebakers to string beans. Some are marginal entries in a random diary recomposed after memory has lost the details ("I can't remember what the class trip was / I think we were going to visit the Samaritans"), while others attempt to archive what details remain ("I liked this hotel best because the swimming pool/ was on the roof"). At their best, they convey the irreducible essence of hard experiences ("Aberdeen Proving Grounds, 1946"), the tangible grit and abrasion of those periods that must be endured before the arrival of better days, as well as the pockets of solace that make such stretches bearable ("Sink"). Delivered with Stern's trademark candor and conversational intimacy, these poems are fitting footnotes to a life keenly lived. Fred Muratori, Cornell Univ. Lib., Ithaca, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 69 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039305084X
• ISBN-13: 978-0393050844
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,313,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gem, January 14, 2009

By 

Always Reading (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Sonnets: Poems (Paperback)

This book is a great find. I read a lot of poetry and am often disappointed. But this book is a real gem -- not a cut and polished diamond with a cold shine, but a more organic beauty, like pearl or amber or raw emerald.

These poems are accessible while at the same time retaining a wonder at the mystery of life. The size of each poem is just right -- about twenty lines or so, and each poem is about the length of one whole utterance or train of thought. I really love that I can hear a real, distinctive human voice in these poems, and not the flatness and lack of emotion you get in a lot of poetry these days, especially if it is written by younger people. Mr. Stern has a wealth of experience, a great memory and imagination, lots of empathy, and an interesting way of saying things. He has used these talents to give us poems that are not simply poems, but experiences.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An American Master!, April 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: American Sonnets: Poems (Hardcover)

This book, from my understanding, is Mr. Stern's first book after his New and Selected Poems, which won the American Book Award. He is an American Master! My wife, who studied under him at the University of Iowa, has been a die-hard fan all her adlut life. Mr. Stern's tough look at the world and soft touch to the heart has won me, a scientist who believes not all things can me explained, over too.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go Gerry, November 14, 2002

By 

Michal L. Jones "geomason" (Shelocta, Pa USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: American Sonnets: Poems (Hardcover)

As a former student of Dr Sterns (way back in the 70's) this book brings back many of my own memories. As Dr. Stern grew up in the coal fields of Pa, the references strike me very deeply as I remember the same things he is writing about. His humor continues to be jacketed in serious thoughts, but just as in class, his brillance shines thur.