Proofs and Theories [Paperback]

Louise Gluck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1995

Winner of the 1993 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Non-Fiction, Proofs and Theories is an illuminating collection of essays by Louise Glück, whose most recent book of poems, The Wild Iris, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Glück brings to her prose the same precision of language, the same incisiveness and insight that distinguish her poetry. The force of her thought is evident everywhere in these essays, from her explorations of other poets' work to her skeptical contemplation of current literary critical notions such as "sincerety" and "courage." Here also are Glück's revealing reflections on her own education and life as a poet, and a tribute to her teacher and mentor, Stanley Kunitz. Proofs and Theories is the testament of a major poet.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gluck ( The Wild Iris ) maintains that she is "uneasy with commentary," her collection of 16 essays, all previously published in literary journals, is often profound. The subjects of her writing include poets Stanley Kunitz, Hugh Seidman, T. S. Eliot; the future (considered in a 1993 Williams College graduation address); education; and the nature of courage. Yet the real lure of her commentary is sensibility, even more than subject. As with her poetry, Gluck's prose is fine and pared but visionary; her intelligence is precise and earnest. She uses mind as a moral power, whether addressing experience or literature. For instance, in "Disinterestedness," Gluck writes in support of an ideal of reading with nearly bias-free receptivity that literary theorists may scoff, but is liberating and persuasive as she explains it. Here and elsewhere, Gluck's brevity, clarity and resolute independence are impressive.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Gluck (Pulitzer Prize winner for The Wild Iris, LJ 5/15/92) here presents an uneven collection of essays on modern and contemporary poetry. Some of the essays are written in a lucid prose style. For instance, "Disruption, Hesitation, Silence," the best of the volume, compares the poetry of John Berryman, George Oppen, and T.S. Eliot, associating each with an adjectival attribute in the title. However, many of the essays need more analysis of the poets covered. For example, the essay "On Stanley Kunitz" (Gluck's mentor) is too short for a tribute and fails to infuse any germane thought into his poetry. At times, Gluck is able to pull off the improbable comparison of these very different poets in a creative twist of her imagination. Perhaps the lack of development in many of the essays results because Gluck "doesn't trust [her] prose." She holds back from explaining her theories and developing her proofs, which leaves the reader wanting more. For literary collections.-Tim Gavin, Episcopal Acad., Merion, Pa.-- prose." She holds back from explaining her theories and developing her proofs, which leaves the reader wanting more. For literary collections.
Tim Gavin, Episcopal Acad., Merion, Pa.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Ecco (December 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880014423
• ISBN-13: 978-0880014427
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Education of the Prose Writer: Lessons from Louise Glück, July 21, 2002

By 

Erika Dreifus - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Proofs and Theories (Paperback)

"The fundamental experience of the writer is helplessness," declares Louise Glück in the opening sentence of the first essay in _Proofs & Theories_. Although the type of helplessness Glück proceeds to describe differs from the sense of weakness with which a prose writer might attempt to review a book of poetry, the words nonetheless create a bridge between the poet-essayist and her reader. They ease the tension, the anxiety. The education begins.

Glück's essays remind the prose writer that all "reviews" may share certain features. Simple titles that target the subject ("On T.S. Eliot; "On Stanley Kunitz") work well; so, too, may titles that promise treatment of an elusive yet alluring theme: ("The Forbidden"; "Invitation and Exclusion"). On the whole, _Proofs & Theories_ also supports the notion that a review need not be long. Glück notes that most of her poet-contemporaries "are interested in length: they want to write long lines, long stanzas, long poems"; one might add that a number of literary reviewers are interested in writing long reviews, and such pieces are not always necessary. Finally, the essays convey a general impression that the _substance_ of a piece of literature is equally important (if not more so) than its _style_.

This last point is crucial for a prose writer approaching the task of reviewing poetry. Louise Glück's essays reveal preoccupations shared by prose writers--by this prose writer, anyway. Themes. Tone. Voice. It's perfectly all right, _Proofs & Theories_ tells the prose writer, to discuss poetry in these terms. One need not try to dazzle at first meeting with "metonymy" and "synecdoche," with "blank verse" and "internal rhyme." So don't be scared off.

It would, therefore, be acceptable to write an essay titled "On Louise Glück." To choose a theme from _Meadowlands_ or another of Glück's own works, to write about. Or to focus on the poet's voice in selected poems from one of her collections.

It might even be permissible to bring one's own experience of reading into the review. Thus Glück might learn of the moments when _she_ affected a reader, perhaps not to the extent that her own "encounter with [Wallace] Stevens was shattering." But she would see that her poet's presence as "human voice...a companion spirit" made a difference, in the moment of reading, and beyond.

And she would realize, if she doesn't already, that _Proofs & Theories_ provides an excellent education for anyone--prose writer or poet--seeking lessons into the craft of literary reviewing.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a masterly exposition of the craft of a poet, July 15, 2001

By 

Alan Rosenfelder (edgware, middlesex United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Proofs and Theories (Paperback)

Louis Gluck writes brilliant poems which meander around the serious issues of existence ,life ,love ,alienation ,separation,memories and dreams.This is a prose exposition of a collection of her essays which in a way talk of the methods of her craft and give her thoughts on tangible topics such as a critique of the works of T.S.Eliot and more abstract ideas such as the need for brevity in poetry.In another sense these prose meditations are in fact an adjunt to her poems and are meaningful in their own right.From apparently nowhere come profound ideas ,i quote"When you read anything worth remembering,you liberate a human voice;you release into the world again a companion spirit".Louise Gluck is herself a voice well worth listening to ,a contemporary philosopher who can address the important issues fearlessly and with clarity of thought .A gem of a book don't miss it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book for writers, January 5, 2002

By 

Angela H. "Reader and Writer" (Sunny Southeast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Proofs and Theories. Essays on Poetry (Hardcover)

Have you ever wanted to get into the mind of a writer? Find out what makes them tick outside of their art? Louise Gluck's Proofs and Theories: Essays on Poetry does just that. Having recently read the book for a class, I was immediately sucked in by the first essay, "Education of the Poet." There I found in Gluck's work an indomitable spirit, a certain fearlessnss and insistence like the determination of a newborn as it is being pushed out of the womb.

Gluck said early on she had "great resources of will and no self." This strength of will and lack of self almost led to her death. Since she often felt unheard, she took adolescent rebelliousness a few notches higher than most teens. Because her parents wanted her to eat, she willed herself to eschew hunger. As Gluck neared 75 pounds, she found she had to make some decisions. Eventually, she enrolled in The School of General Studies at Columbia and studied poetry under Leonie Adams and later, reknowned poet, Stanley Kunitz.

Any writer who has ever struggled with declaring his or her vocation in life can readily identify with Gluck's struggle in this first essay. "...And most writers spend much of their time in various kinds of torment: wanting to write, being unable to write; wanting to write differently, being unable to write differently."

Another favorite essay, "On Stanley Kunitz" may appeal to those who aspire to be teachers or who have ever worked with a dynamic and inspiring teacher or mentor. Gluck defines what is the essence of the teacher/student relationship in her work/apprenticeship with Stanley Kunitz: "For five years I overheard a splendid mind engaged with words, with what was the most crucial involvement in my life..."..."I felt much of the time, doomed and exhilarated, or, in practical terms, always very tired like a salmon swimming against the current."... "...in the most profound sense, Kunitz was the first human being by whom I felt entirely heard and this fact was a source of endless happiness." How perfect if all teachers could achieve this level of "heard-ness" with students, and if all students strived for this level of participation in their own education. The special bond between the two is tenderly and honestly rendered in this essay.

In another essay, "On George Oppen", Gluck discusses a poet whose style she reveres and one who may have also influenced her style. Gluck's own work uses an economy of words and therefore she admires that trait in others. She remarks that early on she knew what type of style she wanted to write and she gravitated toward those who could support that vision. "As a reader, consequently as a writer," Gluck writes, "I am partial to most forms of voluntary silence. I love what is implicit or present in outline, that which summons (as opposed to imposes) thought."

Gluck's essays are the quintessential writer's resource. A book that follows along the deep waters of a deeply gifted poet. Not a book for light reading, but one you would want to have a notebook handy for recording the especially profound statements.