Chair in the Desert: Poems [Hardcover]

Richard Chess (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2000

The season is late summer. The cities are Philadelphia and Jerusalem. The wildernesses are desert and mountain. The voices are those of a man and a woman on paths where God and demons are at strife, on public beaches and city streets, in therapists’ offices and synagogues, in the Jersey Pine Barrens and at the Western Wall, at klezmer concerts and supermarkets, on boulevards, and in backyards and beds. Lament, lure, confession, enjoinder, boast, prayer, plea—the poems in Richard Chess’s Chair in the Desert pick up where he left off in Tekiah, his first book. These new poems invite us to rise and tremble in the presence of the new day and to make of our midnight wrestling and restlessness a psalm.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Chess directs the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, where he is associate professor of literature and language. His poetry has been widely published in periodicals and in anthologies including Telling and Remembering: A Century of American-Jewish Poetry (Beacon Press, 1997) and Ravishing DisUnities: An Anthology of Real Ghazals (Wesleyan, 2000). His first book of poems, Tekiah, was published by the University of Georgia Press in 1994.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 104 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Tampa; 1st edition (November 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879852675
• ISBN-13: 978-1879852679
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,868,443 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've Read Verse, January 6, 2001

By 

Jonathan Burstein "scoop" (Woodstock, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chair in the Desert: Poems (Hardcover)

First off -- I'm far more comfortable reading box scores than I am poetry. But "Chair In the Desert" is a good read; intellectually challenging and enlightening, which I suppose good poetry is meant to be. While Mr. Chess uses the template of his Jewish experiences as a focus, the poems are global in theme. Anyone who has a teenage child, or was ever a teenager themselves, will appreciate "Leviticus for Daughters". Many of the poems have a meter that sounds like chants one might have heard take place in synagogues and houses of learning centuries ago.

4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely & yearning poetry, April 28, 2009

By 

S. Swartz (Bloomington, IN) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chair in the Desert: Poems (Hardcover)

You never know what you're going to get with religious/spiritual themed poetry, but this book is a delight. Rhythmic, searching, personal. Being Jewish does give you a running head-start on some of the references and metaphors, but it isn't a necessary pre-requisite for enjoyment. I'm going to check out Richard Chess' other books.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A CHANGE OF HEART.........., January 13, 2001

By 

Margaret Teich (ASHEVILLE, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chair in the Desert: Poems (Hardcover)

I'VE ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO GOES STRAIGHT TO THE FICTION ISLES IN A BOOKSTORE. BUT, WHEN A FRIEND OF MINE SUGGESTED I READ RICHARD CHESS' "CHAIR IN THE DESERT", I RELUCTANTLY TOOK HER ADVICE, AND HAVE SINCE HAD A CHANGE OF HEART. CHESS' WORKS, INCLUDING MY FAVORITES, "LEVITICUS FOR DAUGHTERS" AND "I AND THOU BABY" APPROACH TWENTY FIRST CENTURY ISSUES GARNISHED WITH AN OLD TESTAMENT LORE. THE REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES SKILLFULLY DEPICTED BY THE POET IN THIS COLLECTION LEAVE THE READER DEEPLY SATISFIED, AND YET BEGGING FOR MORE. DUE TO "CHAIR IN THE DESERT", I AM ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO GOES STRAIGHT TO THE FICTION AISLES...BECAUSE THAT'S THE QUICKEST WAY TO THE POETRY.