Landscape at the End of the Century: Poems [Hardcover]

Stephen Dunn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1991

"Here is the mature work of a poet who has always managed to delight—but who now demands something more of us. He asks us to enter the twenty-first century with open eyes: attentive to the past, eager for the future, naming what we love."--Judith Kitchen, Georgia Review

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Moving outward from the territory of hearth and home he has mapped so well in earlier works, Dunn ( Between Angels ) demonstrates both old and new strengths in this slim, potent volume. A dark abstraction infuses the poems of Part I, as Dunn writes in "Bringing It Down" of the man who, observing a jet flying overhead, fantasizes its crashing and his heroism in rescuing survivors. In "The Man in the Forest," a lost man wandering in circles is observed wryly by wild animals that are sure of their place. Part II returns to familiar ground freshly observed, where "ordinary days of marriage / stretch out like prairie" ("Epithalamion"); here the poet celebrates "the ordinary mysteries, women / and men, the broken bridge / between us." Rhythmic and insistent, the rousing, lengthy "Loves"--comprising all of Part III--is a high-spirited, deliciously specific catalogue that ends, "I love how we go on."
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In the past, Dunn has been a spokesperson in our struggle with the everyday. His first seven collections have taken an intelligent, charming, and often wry look at the challenges we come up against as we try to live a quiet, normal life. This new volume has a greater range: standing at the edge of a new millennium, Dunn is aware of history, roles, and trends in the greater scheme of things. "Only a hero/would dare return with the truth." Truth is the matter of these poems; particularly, those who want it and those who seem content or even intent on having nothing to do with it. "Loves," a wonderful, uplifting long poem that closes the book, calls our attention to how much we enjoy but so often take for granted. We end up feeling that from this side of the precipice, with what light we have, things don't look so bad. Highly recommended.
- Louis Mc Kee, Painted Bride Arts Ctr., Philadelphia
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 94 pages
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc; 1 edition (April 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393029727
• ISBN-13: 978-0393029727
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,090,950 in Books (See Top 100 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 Landscape at the End of the Century, November 21, 2003

By 

E Hogan (Cedar Run, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Landscape at the End of the Century: Poems (Hardcover)

This book of poems is perhaps as good, or even better than his Pulitzer Prize winning 'Different Hours.' I have read most of his works, and was a writing student of his at Stockton State College. Equally good and a must read is Stephen Dunn's 'Between Angels.'

5.0 out of 5 stars Landscape at the End of the Century, November 22, 2003

By 

E Hogan (Cedar Run, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Landscape at the End of the Century: Poems (Hardcover)

This book of poems is perhaps as good, or even better than his Pulitzer Prize winning 'Different Hours.' I have read most of his works, and was a writing student of his at Stockton State College. Equally good and a must read is Stephen Dunn's 'Between Angels.'