Sacrifice [Paperback]

Cecilia G. Woloch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 1997

SACRIFICE is Cecilia Woloch's first collection of poems, hailed by poet-critic David St. John as "an extraordinary debut... The exquisite sensuality of these poems is matched only by [thier] heart-breaking delicacy ... Cecilia Woloch's poems unveil the wreckage of love after what has been sacramental turns sacrificial ... they are prayers spoken to, and on behalf of, a difficult world."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Cecilia Woloch ... offers us 'bits and pieces' of an often 'brutal whole,' in her case a family history she refers to at one point as 'this meager breakfast' ("History"). SACRIFICE is ... a suite of twenty prose and thirty-four verse poems that chart the poet's childhood, her marriage and its wreckage, the emotions that accompany a life. ... What I admire most about this debut collection is Woloch's willingness to speak without hiding behind mandarin obscurities or brutalizing irony and yet to say what she says as art and never as the crude transcription of unshaped memories ... The effect this time of combining prose, verse, and poetry is to be reminded that even the prosiac moments of life can be made to sing, can be poetry ..." -- The Prose Poem: An International Journal

About the Author

Cecilia Woloch was born in Pittsubrgh, Pennsylvania, in 1956, and grew up there and in rural Kentucky. A resident of Los Angeles since 1979, Ms. Woloch has been active as a poet-in-the-schools and teacher of creative writing workshops. She's received grants for her work in the community from the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and the California Arts Council, as well as numerous awards for her poetry. She's the director of Summer Poetry in Idyllwild, a one-week festival held in the San Jacinto Mountains of Southern California, and currently spends part of each year travelling, performing and teaching throughout Europe.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Cahuenga Press; 1 edition (April 27, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964924048
• ISBN-13: 978-0964924048
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,907,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sacrifice is a masterful achievement of language and emotion, October 6, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Sacrifice (Paperback)

Cecilia Woloch's _Sacrifice_ is a collection of poems centering on the bittersweet journeys in a person's life. She writes of the passions that keep us moving forward, and the struggles that keep us searching for meaning. The poems, in and of themselves, sparkle with clarity, and speak to us just underneath the surface of our consciousness.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Woman's Poetic Journey, March 21, 2001

By 

Kathryn S. Byer (Cullowhee, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sacrifice (Paperback)

Cecilia Woloch's first book makes me wonder where she's been for so long. Her work is new to me, but now her book ranks among my favorites. Why? Her poetry is vivid, emotionally honest and challenging, lyrical, and precise. She writes intensely and believably as daughter, wife/ex-wife, lover, friend. Her prose poems are surprisingly memorable, surprising because the prose poem is usually not my favorite vehicle for poetic expression. This is a book I now keep at my bedside: a good poem, A.R. Ammons once said, has an inexhaustible core of liveliness; these poems have that liveliness, so I know I'll not grow tired of them any time soon.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Writer! Excellent Material!!!, June 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sacrifice (Paperback)

The poetry of Cecilia Woloch is beautiful and filled with the energy of emotion and craft. To follow her artful poetic journey is to feel the universal emotion of everywoman...and everyman. This book grips you. Read, weep, and enjoy.