Our World [Paperback]

Mary Oliver (Author), Molly Malone Cook (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2009

Mary Oliver, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, is one of the most celebrated poets in America. Her partner Molly Malone Cook, who died in 2005, was a photographer and pioneer gallery owner. Intertwining Oliver's prose with Cook's photographs, Our World is an intimate testament to their life together. The poet's moving text captures not only the unique qualities of her partner's work, but the very texture of their shared world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Readers who savor Oliver's exquisite gifts of attentiveness, her lean lines, her celebration of the holiness of what is, will delight in her gifts applied to the being she loved longest. And anyone who sees the best of Cook's photographs here will celebrate a remarkable eye. —Brian Doyle, Christian Century

"Oliver interweaves entries from Cook's journal with her own prose-and-poetry text, revealing a richly textured life, a shared world that included prominent writers and artists." —Patricia A. Kossmann, America

About the Author

Mary Oliver is one of the most celebrated and best-selling poets in America. Her books include Red Bird; Our World; Thirst; Blue Iris; New and Selected Poems, Volume One; and New and Selected Poems, Volume Two. She has also published five books of prose, including Rules for the Dance and, most recently, Long Life. She lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807068810
• ISBN-13: 978-0807068816
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 0.3 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #258,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtakingly beautiful, October 18, 2007

By 

Julie Jordan Scott "Writer, Life Coach - Owne... (Bakersfield, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Our World (Hardcover)

Simply the name Mary Oliver causes a shift in my countenance and my being. My steps are different when I am present to who she is as a writer and human being, so it shouldn't surprise me, what happened this morning.

I was minding my own business walking across my local bookstore when I heard the sound of wind rushing from my mouth. It was like the jolt happened so quickly my brain couldn't quite orient around the words, "Our World" and the names Mary Oliver and Molly Malone Cook.

I had no choice. I had to stop all my other book plans and sit with this one, just be with it, soak it in, allow it to do its work on my soul as I knew intuitively it would.

Last winter I became the self-appointed one woman marketing machine for Mary Oliver's "Thirst" - a collection of poetry written as she grieved the loss of her life partner, Molly Malone Cook, someone who I never knew yet felt I knew through reading Oliver's work. I stood at a bookstore crying as I read that book, sobbing, openly - aching and simultaneously being stunned by the beauty of the poetry.

Now, in this volume, not only do I have words - I have Molly Malone Cook's photography.

It is like being invited into the most intimate chambers of a lifetime soul-love affair. It is deeply personal, extremely intense memoir of love. That energy is on each page as Oliver builds a model of appreciation for Molly Malone Cook for us all to follow.

Now, the "other" juicy stuff - photos by Molly Malone Cook that show a deep love and appreciation of books, of learning, of activism, of art and of the "faces of the world" - one of her early childhood ambitions, so it tells us in the text "was to see every face in America."

Well, in these photographs "every" face is, indeed, communicated.

We see photographers, playwrights, restaurateurs, activists and places the writers and artists among us dream about seeing.

There are too many numerous memorable quotes to share here - and I don't want to take away your own discovery of words that speak directly to you.

I know I will be forever grateful for the work of Mary Oliver and this volume amplifies that gratitude by bringing Molly Malone Cook to life for me in a more vivid way than in the past.

I can only hope there will be many more opportunities for my heart and breath to be swept away, simply by seeing this author's name on a book jacket.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Window onto a World., April 27, 2008

By 

Suzanne Ryder (Ireland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Our World (Hardcover)

I just loved this book. Somehow it opened an intimate window into the life of Molly Malone Cook, without ever disrespecting the sacred nature of her life. Mary Oliver does this with grace. They clearly shared their lives together, yet still kept their individuality intact. Mary Oliver remarks, towards the end of the book, on her own recognised gift for attention. She goes on to pay tribute to Molly for teaching her this: "attention without feeling, I began to learn, is only a report. An openess - an empathy - was necessary is the attention was to matter." This tribute inspires me to continue the journey towards greater presence in my life.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Our World, October 13, 2008

By 

Judith A. Hope "Ladybird" (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Our World (Hardcover)

'Our World' is a pleasingly presented book. Intended to depict the life shared by Molly and Mary (Oliver). It relies on journal notes by Mary and photographs by Molly... recalling conversational moments between them, times with friends,and shared ventures into galleries, publishing, etc.

It succeeds in its intention .. and is a pleasant glimpse into their life... poignant in view of Molly's death in recent years.

I find it to be a little too distant and a good degree removed from their real relationship and life .... rather it relies on anecdotal episodes ... glimpses .. and momentary flashes.

Pleasant - Yes. Deeply told, or fundamentally informing of their real life - No.