Instructions to the Double: Poems (Classic Contemporary) (Paperback)

by Tess Gallagher (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Carnegie-Mellon University Press (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887482023
• ISBN-13: 978-0887482021
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,835,073 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest. Superior word craft and imagery keep coming., August 11, 1998

By A Customer

Tess Gallagher is a blessing. Readers who have experienced a rich essential quality of living will find the resonate voice of an ageless girl underneath powerfully assembled words. This collection was handed to me by a stranger in a coffee shop in Tacoma, Washington, who said only, "here, have a book of poetry." On a quick reading it seemed like superficial, self indulgent, girlish poetry. But this is not the I, me, you, we, weep at me stuff that fills chap books and keeps vanity presses in business. In this case it only serves to, very cleverly and even handedly, disguise, or vale, the soul of writer. Later the work began to unfold its complexity and came to life right out of the page. The balanced, well tempered blending of the metaphorical and the concrete and a fairly consistant cadence, the ability to play with syntax and meaning, twisting words and sentences into unpredictable and surprising contortions only enhance the necessary meaning of the work and give it life in the minds eye where all good poetry is born.

Tess is soft, sweater soft, but don't let that fool you. She is solid, like a rock. A remarkable woman.