What We Carry (American Poets Continuum) [Paperback]

Dorianne Laux (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

2 Am
After Twelve Days Of Rain
Afterwards
Aphasia
The Aqueduct
As It Is
Balance
Dust
Each Sound
The Ebony Chickering
Enough Music
Family Reunion
Fast Gas
Finding What's Lost
For My Daughter Who Loves Animals
For The Sake Of Strangers
Graffiti
Graffiti
Graveyard At Hurd's Gulch
Homecoming
If This Is Paradise
The Job
Kaleidoscope
Kissing
Landrum's Diner, Reno
Late October
The Lovers
Matinee
Planning The Future
Singing Back The World
Small Gods
Sunday Radio
The Thief
This Close
Twelve
What Could Happen
What I Wouldn't Do
What We Carry
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder® --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Dorianne Laux was born in 1952 in Augusta, Maine and is of Irish, French and Algonquin Indian heritage. In 1983 she moved to Berkeley, California where she began writing in earnest. Five years later she earned her B.A. degree in English from Mills College. Laux's first book of poems, Awake, published by BOA Editions in 1990, was nominated for the San Francisco Bay Area Book Critics Award for Poetry. Her poetry has appeared in numerous American journals and anthologies. She has received poetry fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the National Endowment for the Arts. Currently, she teaches creative writing at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: BOA Editions Ltd. (June 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880238071
• ISBN-13: 978-1880238073
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dorianne Laux's most recent collections are Facts about the Moon, recipient of the Oregon Book Award and The Book of Men (W.W. Norton). Laux is also author of Awake, What We Carry, and Smoke from BOA Editions, as well as Superman: The Chapbook and Dark Charms, both from Red Dragonfly Press. She co-edited The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry (W.W. Norton). Recipient of many national grants and awards for her poetry, Laux teaches in the MFA Program at North Carolina State University and is founding faculty of Pacific University's Low Residency MFA Program in Oregon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great collection, August 3, 2002

By 

[e-mail] "[e-mail]" (Beaumont, tx USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: What We Carry (American Poets Continuum) (Paperback)

Adrienne Rich describes Dorianne Laux's poetry as 'tough, sensual...with physical details that add up to more than their sum...' It's what I like about Laux's poetry, she is sensual, sexual at the same time a tough woman. Her poetry is much like Kim Addonizio's, who is one of my favorite contemporary poets. And they are friends, so it is no surprise that Addonizio has lead me to Laux. Dorianne's poems range from poems about the innocence of childhood to the raw, sexual poems that close the volume. Dorianne Laux writes the kind of poetry that I love to read. I highly recommend her work, especially if you are a fan of Millay, Addonizio, Kate Light, or April Lindner.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, November 26, 2001

By 

Amanda (OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What We Carry (American Poets Continuum) (Paperback)

What is beautiful about Dorianne Laux's poetry is that she disguises her metaphors, similes and other poetical devices behind language with which anyone can connect. She is not a simple poet; rather, her poems can be appreciated on many levels, by both average readers and other writers. Dorianne does what few do successfully: she takes the everyday and shows us why we can't forget it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Literally Breathtaking, December 1, 2005

By 

Thomas C. Wyld (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What We Carry (American Poets Continuum) (Paperback)

"What We Carry" established Dorianne Laux as my favorite contemporary American poet.

Her work is bold, spare and literally breathtaking. Her voice is so real, it is daunting. I can see the light pouring from beneath the door, feel the dust on the mantle, and breath in the odor of the rooms she describes.

The volume is always near my bedside, and I give it, sparingly, to only the most special of my friends.

Treat yourself to this unique experience.