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Open Letter to Quiet Light [Hardcover]

Francesca Lia Block (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Price: $16.00 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Book Description

June 1, 2009

“[Francesca Lia Block] is the sorceress of iridescent language.”—Kirkus Reviews

Open Letter to Quiet Light will make readers feel as if they are peering at secret writings meant for the eyes of a lover alone, but these carefully crafted lines somehow transcend the personal to touch everyone who has experienced this kind of consuming, wrenching love.

In these fiercely passionate, devastatingly revealing, sometimes spiritual, and often painful poems, Francesca Lia Block describes in fiery detail the rise and demise of a year-long love affair. Her rich use of language infused with the power of sex and spirit finally paint a transcendent, almost mythic portrait of the way two wounded people—both searching for connection—find each other, collide, and eventually separate. The words seem to bleed onto the page and even the most graphic moments have a devotional quality filled with nuanced expression and unbridled intimacy.

Francesca Lia Block is renowned for her groundbreaking literary works, including the best-selling Weetzie Bat. Her writing transports readers through the harsh landscapes of contemporary life to realms of the senses where love is a saving grace. She lives in Los Angeles.


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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 128 pages
  • Publisher: Manic D Press, Inc.; 1st edition (June 1, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1933149302
  • ISBN-13: 978-1933149301
  • Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #581,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Francesca Lia Block, recipient of the prestigious Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award. has been publishing novels, short stories, essays, memoirs and poetry since 1989. Her work has been translated into many languages. Ms. Block lives in Los Angeles where she teaches writing workshops that are also available online.

 

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Poetic Heartbreak, June 25, 2009
This review is from: Open Letter to Quiet Light (Hardcover)
Francesca Lia Block has been my author crush since I read Weetzie Bat as a preteen and never looked back. Her lyrical style and euphonious phrases sing my body electric. I love her so much, in fact, that I buy extra copies of her books to cut-up so I can incorporate phrases into collages and decoupaged jewelry boxes and nightstands. As a teen librarian, hers are the first book I recommend to girls who come in with that indefinably wistful look in their eyes, romantics with a taste for fairy tales and mythology. Suffice it to say, I was overjoyed to receive a reviewer's copy of her new book of poems, Open Letter to Quiet Light. Described as "the rise and demise of a year-long love affair", the book begins with her traditional images of nature personified, mythological creatures like nymphs and satyrs. Some uncharacteristic rhyming detracted from the flow of the text but Block manages to make even the most mundane things glimmer with magic. There is a definite voyeuristic pleasure to be had in reading these poems, so clearly addressed to a specific individual. Her vulnerability is contagious and painful, insinuating itself under your own skin. The book does indeed journey through a relationship, seesawing with ups and downs, ultimately concluding with a poignant note. This is not a good introduction to Block but is a strong addition to any fan's collection.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Book That is a Treasure, June 27, 2009
This review is from: Open Letter to Quiet Light (Hardcover)
When it comes to books we know nothing of, one of my sisters chooses books based on their covers. It's the very thing we're told not to do as readers. However, if you're that sort of book selector, you may find yourself spending several minutes looking over the cover of this book. I know I did. This mythic-like collage that speaks of a wounded heart is a piece that seeks happiness and contentment where it may be found. Its quite beautiful.

Onto the story. This book isn't a usual tale of love. There isn't a man and women who have yet to fall in love because they already have, perhaps a few times. It's the story of an affair, and it's not told in those ordinary chapters, paragraph after paragraph. It's completely told in poetry. The meaning that can go into any sentence can be none if poorly written, small, or quite open to a great amount of meaning. I feel Block's words as her illustrator's artwork are beautiful, painful, and far from shy of feeling. The emotion pours from her poems on the pages and into your skin as you hold the book in your hands while reading.

I consider this quite a special book and think it would be a treat for anyone to read. I've enjoyed it very much. This is the first book I've read by Block and I plan to seek out her other works now.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Tales of Obessive Love, Heartbreak and the Strength to Overcome, October 15, 2009
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BlabsOnBooks (San Francisco CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Open Letter to Quiet Light (Hardcover)
I am a huge Francesca Lia Block fan and I have been reading her works for years. I loved Open Letter to Quiet Light (as well as her previous book of poems, How to (Un)Cage a Girl). Open Letter is a collection of poems chronicling a love affair. The poems are dripping with emotion, love, and the insecurities that women feel when being vulnerable in relationships. The poems are addressed to her ex-lover whose name means "quiet light". We get an insight to the rush and thrill of their first meeting, the gamut of the affair, and the harrowing downfall that ends in heartache. The entire range of poems will strike a chord with anyone who has ever fallen in love to the point of enrapture only to slowly realize that the idealized verison of the relationship exists only in their imagination. One of my favorite poems is the last one "Open Letter to Quiet Light"-- "I pointed out that quiet light was the meaning of your name. You were very proud of it. You never asked me what my name means. Baby you never asked. But my name? It means Free." I would definitely recommend this book to Francesca Lia Block fans and anyone who has fallen in love only to lose it all but wouldn't change that for the world.


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