VALENTINE PLACE: Poems (edition code 541)(SPP) [Hardcover]

David Lehman (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 1996

David Lehman's poetry has been praised in the New York Times Book Review as "elegant, exuberant, witty, lyrical, and technically sophisticated." With Valentine Place, Lehman, the series editor of the acclaimed Best American Poetry, now offers a brilliant new collection: an unflinching look at romantic and erotic love.

Valentine Place is a dark valentine. But these forty-three poems are not only about desire, marriage, betrayal, and divorce, they're about the whole gamut of emotions surrounding the pursuit of happiness. Keenly felt, Lehman's work is never merely confessional. He uses a variety of techniques here, and the narrative that emerges is mysterious and provocative -- a love affair as seen through a Cubist prism. Lehman writes with candor, at times with high humor, and frequently with a cinematic eye trained by Hollywood and hard-boiled detective novels. From "First Lines" to "Last Words," from "The Secret Life" to "Young Death," Valentine Place reveals a talent that is daring and original.

A story of love, loss, and what comes after, Valentine Place traces the winding path from illusion to disenchantment to enlightenment.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Infidelity, failed marriage, attempted romance, elusive trysts, American Jewish identity and boyhood's lost innocence absorb the attention of the middle-aged, middle-class New York City man whose lightly ironic voice speaks in Lehman's third poetry collection. On the whole, however, the poems stall in facile philosophizing (" 'Sometimes what you thought was an interruption/ Turns out to be your life' "), a too-clever tone and a tired formula of male-female interaction ("His mind was the most masculine part of him./ She told him, hating herself for loving him"). Flashes of rich sardonic insight and occasional biting observations, such as in the poetry-focused "Wedding Song," prevent the collection from sinking under its own weight.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Lehman's (series editor of Best American Poetry) poems explore the idiosyncrasies of love and marriage, separation and divorce. Many of the poems possess a witty outlook and others push to the extreme of sarcasm; however, Lehman allows us to contribute our own definition of love. These poems reveal how "life is a public event," and we must confess to ourselves as well as to our friends and lovers that "love is a speechless joy/That lasts until it dies." After reading these poems, we realize "there's a shiver of mortality in the air." We should walk away from them, forlorn over our willingness to let down that which is most important. However, Lehman asserts that "ten years later he was still sleeping/With one woman while dreaming of another." Is there justice in keeping a faithful marriage when the resolve to faithfulness has long died? The author examines this question while allowing us to provide the answer. Recommended for poetry collections of larger public libraries.?Tim Gavin, Episcopal Acad., Merion, Pa.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (February 5, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684815702
• ISBN-13: 978-0684815701
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,198,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lehmanism, March 3, 2001

By 

T. P. Winch (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: VALENTINE PLACE: Poems (Paperback)

David Lehman runs a reading series, writes criticism, and edits anthologies, but what he does best is write poems, and Valentine Place is a brilliant collection of some of his best work. Lehman's poems are funny, moving, and full of drama. He is a master of many forms, yet the work itself never seems formal or stilted. Read "Wedding Song," the villanelle that opens the book ("Poetry is a criticism of life/As a jailbreak is a criticism of prison"), to sample what the book has to offer. "A Little History," "Dark Passage," and the title sequence are among the book's highlights. Sex, love, death, politics, baseball---Valentine Place has it all. My only complaint is that there are none of Lehman's sestinas in this book---he's written some of the best.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars valetine place, April 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: VALENTINE PLACE: Poems (Paperback)

"Sometimes what you thought was an interruption/Turns out to be your life./And sometimes what you thought was your life/Turns out to have been an interruption./and yet you have to act/As if you were back in the fourth grade/And knew the right answer was Pittsburgh/But put down Bethlehem just to see what would happen-/How it would be feel to be wrong."

One reviewer termed the lines facile. They saved my life.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best collection of thoughts and feelings on love., April 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: VALENTINE PLACE: Poems (Paperback)

Without question, the depth of emotion revealed and examined by this poet is remarkable. I laughed and cried with recognition. The book drew the feelings out of me. I felt the poet's joy pain misery and glorious resolutions and made them my own. No better choice for the lovestruck or lovelorn in this reviewer's opinion. Get it today.