The Last Happy Occasion [Hardcover]

Alan Shapiro (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226750329 | ISBN-13: 978-0226750323 | Publication Date: October 1, 1996 | Edition: 1

The Last Happy Occasion is the coming-of-age story of an American Jew and aspiring writer in the sixties and seventies. In this memoir in six movements, Alan Shapiro recalls how poetry helped him make sense of his own and other people's lives. Events unfold, including his sister's death, that make him reconsider the transformative power of art and accept the limitations of poetry in confronting the untransformable pain of mortal loss.

A refreshingly honest, lovingly crafted work, The Last Happy Occasion is a treasure map for anyone interested in exploring the intersections of life and art.

Nominated for the 1996 National Book Critics Circle Award.

 

"[Shapiro] seeks what lies at the deepest level of the human heart to mitigate his—and our—separateness from others."—Chase Collins, Chicago Tribune Books

"The Last Happy Occasion is touching and intelligent, emotionally satisfying and eloquent testimony to the power of poetry to instruct, heal and inspire."—Emily Barton, New York Times Book Review

"Shapiro, not unlike Auden, doses his wordplay with a certain sly irony. . . . We come away from Shapiro's book with an intimate appreciation of the little subversions that poetry can work in one's life."—Jonathan Kirsch, Los Angeles Times

"He is an acute observer of moments, people, art and language. And he packs even seemingly simple stories with many layers of meaning. . . . He shows us the power and importance of transformative art in life."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The literary criticism is sharp, but what enthralls the reader more is Shapiro's humorous but honest perspective on his younger self, a perspective that is critical without being condescending."—Heller McAlpin, Newsday

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This collection of essays by poet Alan Shapiro is part memoir, part literary criticism. Each piece uses a poem--usually one by a 20th-century poet such as Philip Larkin or Elizabeth Bishop--to address some vital aspect of the human condition. Illustrated by examples from his own experiences, he reflects on life's rites of passage--his childhood struggle with religion, the birth of his son, and the death of his sister. Shapiro's essays go beyond mere musing as he employs his critical skills to dissect the thoughts and feelings already packed into the poetry he includes.

From Publishers Weekly

Many recent autobiographies trade on the author's celebrity, miserable childhood or personal problems. Shapiro, a middle-aged English professor and prize-winning poet (Happy Hours) has none of that baggage to carry and exploit. Yet his book has a lot more to offer the reader than do many racier or more lurid memoirs. Shapiro uses poetry and its "transformative power" as the basis for his fascinating perceptions about a relatively ordinary life. He is an acute observer of moments, people, art and language. And he packs even seemingly simple stories with many layers of meaning. What seems, for example, to be a mundane youthful moment?skipping a religious service to sneak into a new car show?covers so much more: the longing for newness, the tedium of religious ritual, the passing of time, an encounter with a needy old woman, a Philip Larkin poem, the relief of not getting in trouble and conflicts in poetry and life between old and new. Shapiro can also be funny: describing his father's rueful meditations on the author's less-than-grand stature, he writes, "even now, some thirty years later, whenever he sees me my father always shakes his head and says, 'I can't understand it, Al, you had such big feet.'" Shapiro also works poetry issues into chapters on his experience at Woodstock, conflicts with a girlfriend (who would eventually become his ex-wife), a friend's religious zealotry, the birth of his son and the death of his sister. Although he shows us the limitations of art, admitting that "poems don't necessarily make us better spouses, parents, citizens or friends," he also shows us the power and importance of transformative art in life.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226750329
• ISBN-13: 978-0226750323
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #283,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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