Let There Be Light: Poems [Paperback]

Philip Appleman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his newest collection of poems, Appleman ( Open Doorways ) deals directly and uncompromisingly with the inexplicability of God's treatment of man , recasting stories from the Old and New Testaments to show God in a more human light. In "Sarah," God and Abraham are literally "nose to nose," arguing over the fate of Sodom. Abraham asks, "How about / all the good folks over there? . . . are you going to blast them right along / with the perverts?" In the humorous but tragic "Noah," one of the ark-builder's sons angrily questions God's purpose in murdering most of the creatures on earth with His "killer flood": "Listen / Dad, I thought you said He / was omniscient--well, then, / wouldn't He have foreseen all this?" Using language that is smooth and fluid, Appleman skillfully explores the comic potential of these myths, but never to the point of caricature. Other poems stress the simple pleasures of love and the quiet beauty of life amid the pain caused by God's unrelenting cruelty. Unfortunately, for all of his probing religious revisionism, the poet ultimately offers only this feeble conclusion: "God /is . . . a trick with mirrors, our / dark reflection in a glass."
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

And Then The Perfect Truth Of Hatred
Anniversary
Anoher Word For Jim
Before You Push The Red Button
Bildad
But The Daisies Will Not Be Deceived By The Gods
Coast To Coast
Credo
David
Desire (1)
Desire (2)
Desire (3)
Desire (4)
Eve
An Eye For An Eye
Fleas
Gathering At The River
Gertrude
Gifts
Heading North
Heavenly Body
Jesus
Jonah
Judas
Last-minute Message For A Time Capsule
Life On The Mississippi Queen
Lighting Your Birthday Cake
Martha
Mary
New Year's Day
Night Thoughts
Noah
Our Tree
Sarah
Sensual Music
Thin Ice
The Trickle-down Theory Of Happiness
Watching Her Sleep
Here It Is
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder® --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 82 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1ST edition (February 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006096832X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060968328
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,389,377 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Photo by Marjorie Appleman

Philip Appleman (New York, NY) has published eight volumes of poetry, including Karma, Dharma, Pudding & Pie (Quantuck Lane Press, 2009); New and Selected Poems, l956-l996 (University of Arkansas Press, l996); three novels, including Apes and Angels (Putnam, l989); and half a dozen nonfiction books, including the widely used Norton Critical Edition Darwin, and the Norton Critical Edition of Malthus' Essay on Population. His poetry and fiction have won many awards, including a fellowship in poetry from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Castagnola Award from the Poetry Society of America, the Friend of Darwin Award from the National Center for Science Education, and the Humanist Arts Award of the American Humanist Association. Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Indiana University, he is a founding member of the Poets Advisory Committee of Poets House, New York, a former member of the governing board of the Poetry Society of America, and a member of the Academy of American Poets, PEN American Center, Poets & Writers, Inc., and the Authors Guild of America.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is great stuff and really makes a lot of sense., October 26, 1999

By 

Edward J. Klein ([e-mail]) (Peoria, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let There Be Light: Poems (Paperback)

Bible literalists will hate this book, but how can anyone with a modicum of common sense really believe the story of Jonah and the Whale, Noah and the Ark, Adam and Eve, and other Bible stories that make no sense whatever when they are subject to rational analysis. They simply have to be treated as allegories, an inference that Appleman makes plain in his treatment of these accounts in the Jewish Bible. And he does it with great humor and perceptiveness. I hope he comes up with another book of poems based on the Bible and other religous themes, and shows how utterly ridiculous some of them are. Christians who are allowed to think for themselves, I am sure, will find Appleman's perceptions eminently reasonable and acceptable.