Drawing the Line [Paperback]

Lawson Fusao Inada (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1997

Inada hip hops from Buddhism to Soul, the mountains to jazz, concentration camps to Charlie Parker.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Despite its often somber subjects, which include the World War II internment of the poet and other Japanese Americans, this is a joy-filled book. This joy arises in part from Inada's irrepressible wit--a sort of slanting regard for the world that shows its peculiarity and loveliness at once. This wit and this regard are manifest in poetic equivalents of a stand-up comic's one-liners; for instance, Inada assures us that "according to turtles, / rivers are a fluid / form of bridges," that "even a non-goat / can be happy," and that "dust doesn't discriminate." In another poem, he ranges over the possible meanings of the words over here and over there, sweeping us along into memory and hope, anger and release. A spine of autobiography supports the collection, although these poems constitute a personal vision rather than a life story. Patricia Monaghan

Review

Children Of Camp
Denver Union Station
Drawing The Line
Eatin' With Sticks
The Grand Silos Of The Sacramento
Grandmother
Healing Gila
A High-five For 1-5
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 1. Small Things
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 10. Hiroshima
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 11. Mezu-rah-shi
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 12. Acknowledging The Qualities
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 13. Grain
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 14. The Little Details
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 15. First String
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 16. Moht-tai-nai
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 17. Founding Concepts
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 18. Combined
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 19. In Whatever Language
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 2. Parallel Lives
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 20. Blessings And Connections
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 3. Skill
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 4. Waiting For Hiroshi
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 5. Samurai
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 6. Unpreferred
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 7. Better
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 8. War
Hiroshi From Hiroshima: 9. Watch
Just As I Thought
Kickin The Habit
Messing With The Sisters
A Nice Place
Nobody, Nothing
Over Here, Over There
Picking Up Stones
Picture
A Poet Of The High Seas
Pursuing A Career: 1. Writing
Pursuing A Career: 2. Word Processing
Pursuing A Career: 3. My License
Pursuing A Career: 4. Shouldering Responsibility
Pursuing A Career: 5. Fax
Pursuing A Career: 6. Pax
Pursuing A Career: 7. Thanks
Putting Back The Rain
The Real Fresno
Residue
Ringing The Bell: 1. The Man Of Letters
Ringing The Bell: 2. The Man Of Ices
Ringing The Bell: 3. Mi Tierra
Ringing The Bell: 4. Striking The Words
Ringing The Bell: 5. La Bamba
Ringing The Bell: 6. Swing Low
Ringing The Bell: 7. Ringing
Scanning The Century: 1. Blues
Scanning The Century: 10. Earl Bud Powell
Scanning The Century: 11. Miles Dewey Davis Iii
Scanning The Century: 12. John William Coltrane
Scanning The Century: 2. Louis Pops Armstrong
Scanning The Century: 3. Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington
Scanning The Century: 4. William Count Basie
Scanning The Century: 5. Lester Willis Pres Young
Scanning The Century: 6. Billie Lady Day Holiday
Scanning The Century: 7. Charlie Bird Parker
Scanning The Century: 8. John Birks Dizzy' Gillespie
Scanning The Century: 9. Thelonious Monk
Seeking The Great
Tapping The Temples
This One, That One
A World Of Passengers
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Coffee House Press; First Edition edition (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566890608
• ISBN-13: 978-1566890601
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,033,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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