Odd Mercy: Poems [Paperback]

Gerald Stern (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 17, 1997

"For over two decades, no one has equaled Stern's compassionate, surreal parables about the burden of and the exaltation at being alive."—Library Journal

The centerpiece of Gerald Stern's ninth collection is a long poem titled "Hot Dog," named for a beautiful street woman who lives in and around Tompkins Square Park. Other characters in this poem are St. Augustine, Walt Whitman, Noah, Gerald Stern himself, and a ninety-year-old black preacher from the Midwest. In "Hot Dog," and throughout, Stern wrestles with the issues—hope, memory, faith—that have always occupied him.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stern's inner world is so capacious that the poems that pour forth from it are not easily categorized. These new pieces, which are centered primarily in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, are built of meditation, narration and a pastoral lyricism that turns Gotham into a garden. Stern's visions take shape in the form of bluebirds and sunflowers, sofas and Hondas. And ghosts. Ancestors and Judaic brethren invoke a heritage of suffering throughout, yielding an exquisite melancholy. Also present is Walt Whitman, a secular?even pagan?presence whose vigorous influence is keenly felt as Stern nurtures bucolic verse, sometimes writing from a bug or a bird's eye view. Among this selection's opening salvo of 22 poems, most notable is "Ida," a stunning Kaddish for his mother. The book's second half is comprised of a long poem in 17 sections. Titled "Hot Dog," the street name of a homeless woman whom Stern watches over, the work is an encyclopedic rumination on body and spirit.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

"For two decades, no one has equaled [Stern's] compassionate, surreal parables" (Odd Mercy, LJ 11/15/96).
- compassionate, surreal parables" (Odd Mercy, LJ 11/15/96).
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (June 17, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393316300
• ISBN-13: 978-0393316308
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,482,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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