Threshold (Phoenix Poets) [Hardcover]

James Longenbach (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226492451 | ISBN-13: 978-0226492452 | Publication Date: November 15, 1998 | Edition: 1

Threshold is an extraordinary first collection that explores the shifting spaces between differing states of human experience. James Longenbach's poems dwell on metaphoric gates, doorways, and end points past which our everyday world seems luminous and strange. Technically superb and quietly moving, Threshold resonates with a fresh poetic voice.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An esteemed critic of modern verse, Longenbach makes his poetic debut with this contemplative collection. Akin to Heaney both in form?gentle iambics distribute themselves over tercets, couplets and quatrains?and in his inclination toward the liminal in nature, Longenbach wanders to the edge of the wood and watches as the "trees shift uneasily." But purity's a lapsed ideal: litter and debris soil this terrain. A cast-off shoe, a condom and a fire's remains "guarantee there never were natural worlds/ The soul kept alone." The innocence of childhood, too, is lost by strange discovery. In "The Grace of the Witch" a gypsy-like girl dispensing sexual favors by the swings is marked by her transgression: "Block letters cut into her wrist spelled Paul." Such even-keeled revelations, however, can feel too smooth and wearied, too rehersed. The consistency of tone?intelligent, darkly ruminative, unequivocal?may be the only sort of solace one can hope for here, stripped of lust and lustre. Like the great Modernists on whom he has written so capably (Modern Poetry After Moderism; Stone Cottage: Pound, Yeats and Modernism), Longenbach places his mind against every external thing and creates artifacts of language at the borders and boundaries: "We've learned/ These stories told about the natural world/ And now, dissatisfied, we pass them on."
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

paper 0-226-49247-8 From the author of a handful of distinguished academic studies of modern poetry (Stone Cottage: Pound, Yeats, and Modernism, 1988, etc.), a debut collection thats surprisingly direct and fresh-sounding, and bears none of the he avy allusiveness one might expect from this Univ. of Rochester professor. Which is not to say that Longenbach isnt high-minded and, at times, relentlessly abstract, but his crisp phrasing and thematic consistency make this a volume worth sticking with: hi s meanings accrue with each poem. Meditative and often somber, Longenbachs measured verse explores the boundaries between human and spiritual existence, between man and nature, between parent and child, and between the everyday and the transcendent. He ne atly avoids sentimentality in a number of poems on children: The Origin of Angels lingers on his daughters sleeping form; Play with Me records a painful test of wills; and two poems (A Dog, a Horse, a Rat and The Possibilities) imagine the worstthe loss o f a child. Longenbachs unabashed domesticity leads him to contemplate its foundation in houses: a burglary disturbs by what the burglar leaves behind (Burglary), how real, he wonders, is real estate (Real Estate), and a burnt-out house reveals a randomnes s (Any House You Know). Prominent among the books thresholds are rites of passagethe transgressions of childhood, loves first treacheriesas well as the desire to escape solitude through the stories of others. Longenbachs wonderfully circular Threshold of the Visible World exemplifies his keen metaphysic: all in all, an impressive debut. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (November 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226492451
• ISBN-13: 978-0226492452
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,046,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE POET LONGENBACH, February 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Threshold (Phoenix Poets) (Paperback)

James Longenbach is not a poet-critic as one may assume due to his highly praised volumes of critical work, most recently, "Modern Poetry After Modernism." This is The Poet who, in his very first books shows the work of a sublime magnificance and a miracle of truth, feeling, thought and understaning embodied in language. This is a poet who knows the language and is able to flow within the form, changing it. His work does not attempt to make a 'splash' or a 'revolution,' it attempts to extend the possibilities of human speech. In this brilliant first book, Longenbach is our supreme heir to Elizabeth Bishop. A great achievement!

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not His Best Work, October 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Threshold (Phoenix Poets) (Hardcover)

Longenbach's work as an analyst of poetics certainly makes his work as an analytic poet seem rough even for his first work. Stone Cottage remains his best work...This was painful at times as compared to his non-fiction analysis work of the past. This author has done admirable work analyzing the work of others...read stone cottage for an example.

2 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Subjectivity, February 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Threshold (Phoenix Poets) (Hardcover)

The student becomes the professor....or is it the other way around? Anyhow I didnt like this book and I didnt care for the arrogance of he who penned it......