On the Downhill Side: The Collected Poems of William Hedrington [Paperback]

William Hedrington (Author), Michael Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002

While some of his poems were published and received critical attention during his lifetime, this is the first comprehensive collection of William Hedrington's work in book form. These 80 poems chronicle Hedrington's life as he leaves his working-class home in the industrial Midwest to enter New College, an experimental college in Sarasota, Florida. This collection provides insight into both a promising life cut tragically short and the brief flowering of a brilliant poetic talent.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Hedrington (1948-1971) was a recipient of a Wallace E. Stegner Fellowship in Creative Writing in Poetry at Stanford University. His work has appeared in Antioch Review, Readers and Writers, and Laureate.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Shambling Gate Pr (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967972817
• ISBN-13: 978-0967972817
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,767,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Memorable and impressive poetry, March 12, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On the Downhill Side: The Collected Poems of William Hedrington (Paperback)

William Hedrington was an American poet of great promise, but whose career was cut short along with his life in a car crash some thirty years ago on Halloween, 1971 outside of Syracuse, New York. He was just 23 years old. Now more than three decades later and under the ably editorship of Michael Smith (who also provides an informative and extensive introduction) Hedrington's memorable and impressive poetry is preserved and made available to a new generation of readers with On The Downhill Side. Speech: Let them come heavily, bull-boned men/who kill with many blows of a blunt stone/determinedly, because they do not understand:/these men can be yoked neck and neck,/their tongues are numb, they are not to be feared;/if ever they discover speech, their speech/will move with the tide by sun and moon./No, fear, but fear the efficiently thin,/the light and bright as aluminum,/the neon-tongued, who have teeth of movable type/and squawk from a nylon voice box/words that are to them as paper cups,/paper plates, plastic knives, plastic forks.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Poetry/ Annoying Biography, May 27, 2003

By 

kristopher howell (Middletown,ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On the Downhill Side: The Collected Poems of William Hedrington (Paperback)

Here's the short synopsis. Hedrington was a fledgling poet. Some of his poems show true talent, some don't. He probably would have been a major force in modern poetry. However, the book is weighted down by a very self-conscious and wordy biography by Michael Smith, the editor. Smith is clearly intelligent, etc., but he attempts to add his own poetic vision of Hedrington's life. On several occasions I had to put the book down in disgust, unable to believe that Smith would attempt to slip his own silly metaphors into an otherwise factual account. I can only assume he was trying to fill up space to make up for the small example of Hedrington's work.