Gardening in the Dark [Paperback]

Laura Kasischke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2004

Gardening in the Dark, Kasischke’s sixth book of poetry, continues to explore the transformative power of imagination. Her poems take us to the flip side of human consciousness, where anything can happen at any time. Tinged with surrealism, her work makes visionary leaps from the quotidian to sudden, surprising epiphanies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Kasichke's verses walk that perfect Plathian line between the everyday...and the abyss of loss that lies just beneath it. -- Time Magazine, May 9, 2005

Laura Kasichke's poems probe the lives of supposedly ordinary women along with the extraordinary emotional tumult those lives conceal. -- New York Times, November 21, 2004

The poet understands the experience of life...of all the loss we must endure before we make it through. -- Review Revue, August 2005

About the Author

Laura Kasischke has published six volumes of poetry and three novels, several of which have been made into feature films. Her work has received many honors, including the Aliced Fay diCastagnola Award from the Poetry Society of America, the Pushcart Prize, and the Elmer Holmes Bobst Award for Emerging Writers. She teaches at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Ausable Press (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931337225
• ISBN-13: 978-1931337229
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #967,144 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laura Kasischke teaches in the University of Michigan MFA program and the Residential College. She has published seven collections of poetry and seven novels. She lives with her family in Chelsea, Michigan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gardening in the Dark, October 28, 2004

By 

Reviewer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gardening in the Dark (Paperback)

Laura Kasischke's poetry, like Sylvia Plath's, often begins and circles domestic, everyday experience: going to the country fair, trying on a dress, being pulled over by the police for speeding, eating fast food. Yet those experiences constantly point elsewhere, to perils beyond. . .Stitched through is a dark humor of someone who knows she has a lot to lose, has already had a hell of a time losing half of it and soon enough will lose the rest. And somehow, Laura Kasischke makes it all seem nearly a celebration.-Dean Young

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compilation of free-verse poetry, November 8, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Gardening in the Dark (Paperback)

Award-winning poet Laura Kasischke presents Gardening in the Dark, a compilation of free-verse poetry that blends daily experience with contemplation of omnipresent forces, both internal and external, that drive one for good or ill. Speaking directly from the recognizable portions of ordinary life, yet carrying a deeper undercurrent of the human struggle, the words are evocative of the human spirit coping with adversity in mundane and severe circumstances alike. "The Internet": The first time I set down to it alone / I am flesh surrounded by space. // The space begins at the edges of my body / and from there it expands to contain // everything. // I've sinned. / Cannot be saved. / Surrounding me is this strange haze / made of information.