Monks' Fruit [Paperback]

A.J. Levin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2004

In his debut poetry collection, A.J. Levin presents a world in which the past overlays our modern existence, where classical allusions and philosophical observation are married to slapstick humour and carnival: Plato is a blues singer, Tantalus is a prospector in BC, and Descartes wanders around a Montreal amusement park. Monks' Fruit is above all a work of faith. Redemption lies in humour, imagination, curiosity and knowledge, though not in organized religion: Lazarus is reborn through his love, even extinct species have a second life when we remember them, but a parking lot is death itself. Levin guides us not just through time but through place-a cramped Istanbul apartment, brown Mexican fields, noisy Toronto restaurants, and through England, Brazil, the American South. And everywhere is a "place filled with the poem / of human architecture," a land made real by the ability to love and remember.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In Adam Levin's felicitous poetic debut, both Monks' Fruit's art (e.g., its astonishing compression) and its flawlessly executed craft speak eloquent volumes. The poet's shapely offerings and often wry observations issue from an intelligence well-versed in "the age of cultural sensitivity," an intelligence superbly adept at turning surprising corners while negotiating the straits and narrows of twenty-first century existence (or simulacrum of same). Polished, elegant, and honed to a thrilling exactitude, the various strengths of Monks' Fruit lie, to identify but a few, in its evocative command of the exploded landscape of the heart, in its willingness to take worthy risks, and in the way it leaves readers hungry for more. What a talent!" ---Judith Fitzgerald

About the Author

A.J. Levin was born in Winnipeg during a Halloween blizzard. He has also lived in Montreal, Mexico, and Oxford, England. He took a BA at the University of Toronto and an M.Phil. at St. Hugh's College, Oxford, and served as the Junior Dean at St. Cross College. He is the author of two chapbooks, and now lives in Toronto, where he works as an editor.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Junction; 1 edition (March 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0889712026
• ISBN-13: 978-0889712027
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,145,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)