Cold Snap as Yearning [Paperback]

Robert Vivian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2005

Whether confronting a gravel road, a hallucinatory vision of a horse-woman, a deep sensitivity to noise, or the curiosity of crows, Robert Vivian sees the world in a novel way, and this collection gives readers the opportunity to share his unique and intriguing vision.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Each of these vivid essays probes the mystery of encounter, that is, the impermanence of what our five senses tell us, despite the constancy of memory. Vivian, a playwright and poet whose work has appeared in Columbia Poetry Review and New York Quarterly, divides his collection into three parts, "Rootedness," "Women," and "Signs." Each is set in the Midwest, and in each, the author displays his uncanny ability to identify the fading present. In "Rootedness," which treats childhood memories, a lake in northern Michigan is remembered by its smell, "the quicksilver lightening scent of the lake after it rains;" but the remembrance is ephemeral: "I smelled the lake two days ago in a wet oak branch, though when I picked it up the lake was gone." The title essay recounts vivid childhood impressions of a snow storm, which similarly escape him the moment he steps indoors: "The furnace hums, my clothes drip, my hands droop over my knees whatever I was looking for was lost long ago. Whatever I find is gone the moment I find it." Vivian's women all are mysterious crones, bag ladies and widows; all are just barely out of reach, and most are disappearing one way or another. Only the elderly Katherine, a stalwart neighbor, survives; she is "dug in for the final long haul." The essays in "Signs" treat encounters in adulthood, where strangers and birds, music and rivers hint at, but never quite enclose, some great presence: "You couldn't contain the spirit of this river in any painting or symphony, any poem. It's too deep down for symbols, or the colors of a palette."

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Poet and playwright Vivian, whose work has been included in Best Women's Stage Monologues and Best Men's Stage Monologues as well as in various national journals, celebrates his hometown of Omaha, NE, in his first collection of essays. In "The Tides, the Tides," he enumerates all the reasons he imagines people might have for moving to this city, which, he admits, even among Midwestern cities does not have much cachet: "Maybe people come here to lick their wounds, start over in a safer place, resign themselves to the small shadows of a place that will not mock them." This collection is divided into three interconnected sections. The essays in "Rootedness" reflect the landscapes in the author's memory of childhood, those in "Women" feature older women struggling for dignity against isolation, and those in "Signs" use the POETRY of city noises, city life, and the loss of nature as backdrop for the author's observations. While the language is often poetic and the life of the city is acutely observed, the author should have worked harder at giving the reader some relief from the cold. Recommended for both Midwestern academic and public libraries. Pam Kingsbury, Florence, AL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books; 1ST edition (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803296231
• ISBN-13: 978-0803296237
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #903,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Vivian is the author of Cold Snap As Yearning and The Tall Grass Trilogy (The Mover Of Bones, Lamb Bright Saviors, and Another Burning Kingdom). He's also written a new collection of essays, The Least Cricket Of Evening, which will be out in 2011 in addition to another novel entitled Water And Abandon. All of these books are with the University of Nebraska Press. He teaches at Alma College and in the low-residency MFA at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. He's married to the artist and costume designer Tina Vivian. They live much of the year in the country in Northern Michigan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars facts of life as revelation, June 1, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Cold Snap as Yearning (Hardcover)

Robert Vivian's prose is so creatively lush, unexpected and unpredictable, you can hardly believe the "stories" he relates (he calls them essays) are based wholly on personal experiences. They read more like poetic fictions, and yet the style is quite accessible -- nothing self-consciously obscure or tediously "literary." If this is how he treats non-fiction, I can only imagine the delight of reading his fictions.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing, Amazing, Awe Inspiring, December 2, 2001

By 

Mary E. Wendt (Alma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cold Snap as Yearning (Hardcover)

Robert Vivian has taken the personal essay to new heights, expanding poetic language into a deeply inspirational journey into the human experience. If ever you believed the essay genre to be dull and pedantic, Vivian will change your mind forever with his gorgeous language and important insights. The essay is boring no longer

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars i pity the fool that don't buy this book, August 11, 2001

By 

"hurricanejack" (venus) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cold Snap as Yearning (Hardcover)

buy this book. it's brilliant. brilliant. hear me? brilliant!