A Dream of Mind: Poems [Paperback]

C. K. Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1993

The poetry of C. K. Williams has won an essential place in contemporary American poetry. The long lines that have characterized his style since the mid-seventies have allowed him to make ever more radical forays into what Edward Hirsch, writing in The New York Times Book Review, has called "a unique and inclusive poetry of consciousness." A Dream of Mind (1992) is dominated by the long title poem, which explores the materials and qualities of our states of consciousness with enormous flexibility and suppleness. Other poems make similar investigations into jealousy, family life, and psychological and intellectual constructs. Passionate, truculent, humorous, and always questioning, Williams's poetry is, in more than one sense, the poetry of contemporary experience. This challenging, exhilarating book marks a new stage in a truly groundbreaking writer's constantly evolving work.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The voice in the poems of Williams's ( Flesh and Blood ) new collection is one at odds with itself, vacillating between the intense desire to make sense of dreams, jealousies and mortality, yet acknowledging the great difficulty of doing so. In "Signs," a marvelous examination of a man's discovery of a friend's wife's betrayal, the poet is at his best. A master of nuance, and a keen observer of both the traitor and the betrayed, he carries us down the ever-curious, ever-variable paths of jealousy. The shorter poems are timely in their discussions of bankruptcy, religion, betrayal and euthanasia, but Williams is most successful in the longer, subtler narrative poems. The collection concludes with "Helen," which, like this poem's subject, is a "final, searing loveliness": in sinewy lines, Williams describes the metamorphosis of a man's fluctuating love for his wife during her terminal illness. Though his dialectics sometimes seem relentless, the poems encompass all that is "seemingly urgent but possibly purposeless"--the misconstructions, communions and imperfections of life. And Williams is a superb witness: "I behold the infernal beholder, I behold / the uncanny beheld, / this mind streaming through me, its turbulent stillness." (June
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Williams expresses in hard-won and finely tempered verse one of the few truly original voices of this generation. His intelligent, gripping poems weave meditation and narration into long metrical lines, never shying away from complexity in style or story. He has, at least temporarily, abandoned the short stanzaic form showcased in his last collection, National Book Critics Circle Award-winner Flesh and Blood ( LJ 5/1/87), here returning to the longer poems he unreels so well. With room to stretch, he seems more relaxed, making space for every detail, every thought, every observation. A memorable book from one of the finest poets writing today. Highly recommended.
- Louis McKee, Painted Bride Arts Ctr., Philadelphia
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 99 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (June 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374523762
• ISBN-13: 978-0374523763
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,905,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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