Ashbery fans will welcome this collection of one hundred and twelve poems where the signature qualities of Ashbery's greatest work are on every page with a new intensity and power.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Of this excellent work, Marjorie Perloff writes: "Literary echoes, puns, paragrams, and mini-narratives collide so as to create the image of a world bursting with memories and overflowing with possibilities--a world like no one else's." John Ashbery, long admired for his wit, craft, and assured (if sometimes bewildered) tone, has outdone himself here. Notice especially the tour de force, "Eternity Sings the Blues."
From Publishers Weekly
The talky voice that has been unflappably echoing American culture and crossing it with higher-tone concerns returns in a fullness of wry, observant wit. Ashbery (And the Stars Were Shining) is clearly uncomfortable with the academic industry that has grown up around him: many of these poems directly address readers, critics and would-be biographers: "suppose this poem were about you?would you/ put in the things I've carefully left out" he asks, coolly enumerating such possibilities as "descriptions of pain, and sex." Ashbery is best known for wrapping philosophical musings in a candy-coated shell, pointing out the hairline cracks of irony. He's at it still, in poems like "My Philosophy of Life," which concludes: "Still, there's a lot of fun to be had in the gaps between ideas./ That's what they're made for! Now I want you to go out there/ and enjoy yourself, and yes, enjoy your philosophy of life, too./ They don't come along every day. Look out! There's a big one..." In these 100-plus short lyrics, prose poems and one long poem, Ashbery continues to charm us into thought.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can You Hear, Bird: Poems by John Ashbery,
By spark (USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Can You Hear, Bird: Poems (Paperback)
Fabulous poems, esp the oft-quoted "Obedience School."
Found book at Barnes and Noble, but much less expensive ordering same thru Amazon.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
