or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
The Paradise of Forms: Selected Poems
  
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

The Paradise of Forms: Selected Poems [Hardcover]

Aaron Shurin (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Price: $32.95 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Usually ships within 1 to 3 weeks.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover $32.95  
Paperback --  

Book Description

January 1999
Poetry. swallowed on purpose to make the taker have bliss, all the world are nothing like lips hair, cheeks. in the breath hear speak faith, make love groan swear my judgment in deeds (from Artery). Selections from GIVING UP THE GHOST, A'S DREAM, THE GRACES, A POSSIBLE LIFE, CODEX, INTO DISTANCES, A DOOR, FOUR VIEWS OUT OF PARIS and INVOLUNTARY LYRICS, as well as previously uncollected pieces. THE PARADISE OF FORMS is a beautiful book and an excellent selection of Shurin's work. A poetry of lyric complexity, determined in its exploration of the `personal' as a territory of multiple voices and multiple selves - Michael Palmer. For three decades Aaron Shurin's poetry has been at the forefront of innovative American writing. An essayist and teacher as well as a poet, his work has appeared in over a dozen U.S. and international anthologies, and he has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council. Shurin teaches creative writing at San Francisco State U
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At this point, the principal legacy of 1960s "free verse" may be a myopic identification of formalism with conservatism-as though constraint were indistinguishable from repression. Shurin's The Paradise of Forms proves just the opposite; it delightfully explores a m?lange of containers, frames, and matrices through which a poem can come to life. That these forms here take shape paradoxicallyAthrough breakage, shock, glissementAmakes them no less "prosodic" or constructive. From the disjunctive lyric of Shurin's "Parallel Views" (The Graces, 1983), the work grows increasingly tactical, refracted and serial, advancing from interior depths to syntactic horizons: "Wasp of benevolent diction in contention with cars, a narrow pole deep into the North dug with cautious abandon." By "Codex," typographical dissonance directs the poem back into the surface of the page: "Agog before the remainder a choked overture, HE TRIES TO PULL THE SKIN FROM ITS INCISIVE GRASP, 'he fumbled and gaped.' " Later work, such as Into Distances (1993), clusters prose paragraphs into arch parables or demi-essays, after which (in "Involuntary Lyrics") Shurin returns to verse. Pattern, recombination, and a kind of lovely noiseAlike teletype from the collective unconsciousAmark the musical structures of these books of forms.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

90% Humidity, 10% Lust
A's Dream
Absolute Monarch
Artery, Sels.
Artery, Sels.
Artery, Sels.
Breath
City Of Men, Sels.
City Of Men, Sels.
City Of Men, Sels.
City Of Men, Sels.
City Of Men, Sels.
Codex, Sels.
Codex, Sels.
Codex, Sels.
Codex, Sels.
Codex, Sels.
Codex, Sels.
Codex, Sels.
Codex, Sels.
Envoy
A Few Forward
Follow
The Graces, Sels.
The Graces, Sels.
The Graces, Sels.
The Graces, Sels.
Human Immune
Impromptu
In A Little Stream Of Ascending Air
In The Mist
The Ingredients
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Involuntary Lyrics, Sels.
Material's Daughter
Mister Harp
Multiple Heart, Sels.
Multiple Heart, Sels.
Multiple Heart, Sels.
Multiple Heart, Sels.
Multiple Heart, Sels.
Multiple Heart, Sels.
Multiple Heart, Sels.
Ninth Life
No Place Like Noon
One Evening
Parallel Views, Sels.
Parallel Views, Sels.
Parallel Views, Sels.
Parallel Views, Sels.
Parallel Views, Sels.
A Possible Life
Prelude
Raving #1
Raving #13, All Hallow's Eve
Raving #25, Vernal Equinox
Raving #8, O Dear
Raving #9
Reaching Particle
Red Geraniums
Sailed
Saturated
Sphere
Spinner
Still Life
Take Off
Telegrammeton
The Third Floor
Threshold
To John
To John
A Union
The Wheel: 1
The Wheel: 2
The Wheel: 3
The Wheel: 4
The Wheel: 5
The Wheel: 6
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 142 pages
  • Publisher: Talisman House Pub (January 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1883689821
  • ISBN-13: 978-1883689827
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,441,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Aaron Shurin is the author of eleven books of poetry and prose, most recently Citizen a collection of prose poems (City Lights Books, 2012) and King of Shadows, a collection of personal essays (City Lights Books, 2008.) Other publications include Involuntary Lyrics (Omnidawn, 2005), A Door (Talisman House, 2000), and The Paradise of Forms: Selected Poems (Talisman House, 1999.) His writing has appeared in over thirty national and international anthologies, and has been translated into seven languages. Shurin's honors include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, the San Francisco Arts Commission, and the Gerbode Foundation. He has lived in San Francisco since 1974, where he is a Professor in the MFA in Writing Program at the University of San Francisco.



 

Customer Reviews

1 Review
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A flawless retrospective, May 27, 1999
By A Customer
Mr. Shurin is the Marianne Faithfull of avant-garde poetry. He's been working hard for years and known only to a small devoted readership. This book, though, collects pieces from over his career, and they sparkle and shine with wit and with true grace. He is one of a vivacious group of innovative gay poets that includes Steve Benson, Robert Duncan, D. A. Powell, Robert Peters and Kenward Elmslie.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews



Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Create a Listmania! list

So You'd Like to...


Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:





i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...