Draft of a Letter (Phoenix Poets) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This third book by noted critic and poet Longenbach is a collection of lyrics presenting conversations between an eternal soul and that soul's embodied, temporal self. When this idiosyncratic fragmentation of "the mind thinking" works, the results are lovely, intimate and distilled, as in the title poem, when the soul informs us, "If you say the word death/ In heaven,/ Nobody understands"; or in "Second Draft," when the embodied self explains, "...I said// Being mortal,/ I aspire to/ Mortal things.// I need you,/ Said my soul,/ If you're telling the truth." Throughout, Longenbach is drawn, romantically, to nature, though his natural descriptions and settings can feel dislocated or mythical, as if equal parts Wordsworth and Beckett; for example, "The flower didn't speak to me but/ I spoke back, I heard// My name." Sometimes Longenbach's romanticism gets overblown, however: "To that hidden place,/ ... No shepherds came, no goatherds./ Only nymphs and muses/ Joining together in song." Other times, the language feels merely flat, rather than distilled, compressed or charged. Nonetheless, at his best, Longenbach offers a moving directness and koanlike simplicity (or complexity): "First rule: no one/ Is speaking. The second is/ Follow the sound." (Apr.)
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Review

"This, James Longenbach''s third collection of poetry, moves between pondering and declaration with such strange force that one can only believe the revelations within these poems."-American Poet (American Poet )

"Complex and moving, Draft is also quiet, elusive. It asks patience and a willingness to dwell in its unresolved tensions." (Benjamin S. Grossberg Antioch Review )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226492680
• ISBN-13: 978-0226492681
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #594,862 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)