History of My Heart: Poems [Paperback]

Robert Pinsky (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0374525307 | ISBN-13: 978-0374525309 | Publication Date: February 1998

History of My Heart, winner of the William Carlos Williams Prize, first appeared in 1984. In The New Republic, J.D. McClatchy called it "one of the best books of the past decade." It is Pinsky's third volume of poems--and an ideal introduction to the work of a vital and original contemporary American poet.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"History of My Heart includes . . . parents and boyhood neighbors, Fats Waller warming the Christmas crowd at Macy's, holocaust victims and the inspired derelicts beautifully summoned up in the poem 'The New Saddhus' . . . Mr. Pinsky has a rare gift for portraits of this kind, for action, character, and atmosphere clearly and buoyantly proportioned."--Roland Flint, The New York Times Book Review

"The core of Pinsky's third book of poems is the long title piece . . . [He] has written long poems from the beginning and established himself as a poet in the discursive mode with serious moral purposes . . . Pinsky mixes warm and often funny autobiographical anecdotes with long comfortable passages of commentary . . . What's especially interesting is the way Pinsky refrains from embedding his figures and fables in obligatory explanation. His voice is still engagingly talky, still confiding, anecdotal, funny, sober, and reflective . . . but it seems to pause more often, to see more deeply into the strangeness of things, and to be less concerned about continuity, connection, and closure."--Elizabeth Frank, The Nation

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374525307
• ISBN-13: 978-0374525309
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,813,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strong, accessible work, May 19, 2002

By 

Scott Woods (Columbus, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: History of My Heart: Poems (Paperback)

Want to check out some poetry that won't blind you with its self-importance? Give Pinksy a whirl. He wasn't poet laureate for nothing, and this volume shows why: his work is everyday-ish, regular images told in regular language, but stacked in such a way that the power of the images play movies in your head with every turn of the page. The book gets off to a ripping start and calms down from there, but is no less compelling.

Like really good, quiet fireplace conversation.

4.0 out of 5 stars skillful, April 6, 2009

By 

thespider (Manila) - See all my reviews

This review is from: History of My Heart: Poems (Paperback)

Reading this is reading a master at work. Pinsky wields so much skill it's ridiculous. Reading the poems here is like listening to an intelligent, old man sitting in a chair somewhere in a field, giving his thoughts free rein, following them where they land. In my opinion, the poem "The Figured Wheel" is a lyrical, breath-taking masterpiece.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars we must feel bad that this was our Poet Laureate, August 18, 2003

By 

Master of (sitting here) - See all my reviews

This review is from: History of My Heart: Poems (Paperback)

Pinsky is in love with being a poet, but his poems don't mean anything to the rest of us. This book is a perfect example of this. We are supposed to admire him, not read him, and I find it a shame that this lousy work got him a Luareateship.