Wallace Stevens Reads [Abridged, Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Wallace Stevens (Author, Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 9, 1998

Wallace Stevens achieved international recognition as a master craftsman and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Awards. Trained as a lawyer and employed as an insurance executive, Stevens' reputation has flourished since his death, and he is now considered one of America's most significant poets. His poems, marked by an unmistakable individuality, are exquisitely formed, full of lush figures and daring images. The listener will enjoy how Stevens wittily confuses all the arts in a luxuriance he called 'the essential gaudiness of poetry.'

Poems Included:

Side 1:

"The Theory of Poetry (A Prose Note); The Idea of Order at Key West; Credences of Summer; The Poem That Took the Place of a Mountain; Vacancy in the Park"

Side 2:

"Large Red Man Reading; This Solitude of Cataracts; In the Element of Antagonisms; Peulla Parvula; To An Old Philosopher in Rome; Two Illustrations That the World is What You Make of It 1: The Constant Disquisition of the Wind, II: The World is Larger in Summer; Prologues to What is Possible, II; Looking across the Fields and Watching the Birds Fly; Final Soliloquy of the Interior Paramour and The Life of a Poet (A Prose Note)"

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. After receiving his law degree, he began working for the legal department of the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company. He continued to work for the insurance company and reside in Hartford, Connecticut throughout his writing career. His collections of poetry include Harmonium, Ideas of Order, Transport to Summer, and The Auroras of Autumn. He was awarded two National Book Awards, and the Pulitzer Prize in 1955.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Caedmon; Unabridged edition (December 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0694520535
• ISBN-13: 978-0694520534
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,694,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Recording! ...pretty much., April 24, 2000

By 

"dentropy" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wallace Stevens Reads (Audio Cassette)

This recording is a truly enjoyable one. There is nothing comparable to hearing a poet read his or her own words, and among recorded poets, Wallace Stevens has one of those commanding, grave, sonorous voices that really suits the dramatic and cerebral nature of his poems. The recording opens with "The Theory of Poetry" and closes with "The Life of a Poet," two prose notes that provide a nice counterpoint to the poems. The poem selections, however, leave a little to be desired. This listener, at least, would have like to have heard "The Snow Man," "Sunday Morning," "Esthetique du Mal," or "The Course of a Particular." The poems that are included, however, are an excellent selection for those already aquainted with Stevens: "The Idea of Order at Key West," "Credences of Summer," "The Poem That Took the Place of a Mountain," "Vacancy in the Park," "To an Old Philosopher in Rome," "Prologues to What is Possible, II," and nine others. The recording quality is high, having been digitally remastered. Overall, a real treat for the ears, but don't expect to hear some of the more well-known poems mentioned above.