Amazon.com Review
Irreverent, esoteric, bordering on gory, Albert Goldbarth has assembled an ambitious collection of poetry that takes the reader from the physiological bases of life to the cosmic mysteries of the heavens. He proves himself a master not only of subtle visual and emotional imagery ("The History of Buttons," "The Niggling Mystery"), but also humor, evidenced by a "Letter" to
Thoreau inspired by a
Harper's Index entry noting that the long-deceased Transcendentalist "received" 90 direct-mail pitches in 1988. Fearless consumers of verse will derive the most pleasure from this splendid compilation, which earned the 1991
National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry.
From Publishers Weekly
Goldbarth's ( Popular Culture ) "cosmology" involves a scientific reading of life, one that puts into perspective the chemical and physical (as in physics) aspects of love, spirituality and aestheticism, seeking the "reassurance / of weight and number, perimeter, durability." In "Coin," the poet argues for the existence--and ultimate isolation--of the soul by noting the inability of medical science to probe the mystery of the body: "In everybody, there's this final landscape / only capable of supporting a population of one." Although Goldbarth admits in "The History of Buttons," that each person is "just another grain of dust / freefloating cosmic thermals," our molecules combine in such a way that we still are able to "love what it means to be here / at the end of uncountable miles of lacelike nerve." The reader must work hard to interpret the poet's complicated but extraordinary vision. To make his points, Goldbarth links stories from his own experience with interpretive allusions to art and religion, and his imagery often is loaded with esoteric scientific terms. Ultimately, however, the poet's perceptions of life ring so real and true that the reader is more than likely to forgive any verbal and narrative convolution.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
