Long Life: Essays and Other Writings (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for her poetry, Oliver also writes exquisitely lucid prose. Here, in her most generously personal essays to date, she articulates the beliefs, observations, and inspirations that feed her poetry as she contemplates the majestic beauty of the earth and its splendid creatures, including humankind. Oliver ponders death and remembrance, marvels over the unexpected boon of an old town dump, considers the indelible impression left by childhood revelations of the power and mystery of nature, and reveals her literary legacy in a set of sterling tributes to Wordsworth, Emerson, and Hawthorne. And, finally, this essential American poet literally brings it all home in a radiant reflection on the crucial "connection between soul and landscape." Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"[Oliver] can...reveal the beauty of things that a casual eye might overlook or dismiss as odd or insignificant." -- American Book Review, October 2006

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Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306814129
• ISBN-13: 978-0306814129
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #87,634 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Plowing the natural world with prose-horse in harness., May 16, 2004

By	G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Long Life: Essays And Other Writings (Hardcover)

For Pulitzer-Prize and National-Book-Award winning poet, Mary Oliver, the big question the world throws at her every morning is, "Here you are, alive. Would like to make a comment?" This book, she says, is her comment (p. xiv). Given the choice of prose-horse in harness, or the horse of poetry with wings, Oliver says that she would rather fly than plow (p. xiv). However, in this rare collection of essays (punctuated with an occasional poem), Oliver mostly plows.

Oliver's prose here is both memorable and radiant. As in most of her poetry, these essays draw their inspiration from the natural world, which has always offered Oliver the hint of our single and immense divinity--"a million unopened fountains" (p. 19). In her solitude--a "prerequisite to being openly and joyfully susceptible and responsive to the world of leaves, light, birdsong, flowers, [and] flowing water" (p. 22), we find Oliver contemplating the "connection between soul and landscape" in these essays, which explore death, the poetry of unleashed dogs, the town dump, sprawl, Wordsworth, Emerson, and Hawthorne. In one of my all-time favorite Oliver moments, she asks, "What would it be like to live one whole day as a Ruskin sentence, wandering like a creek with little comma bridges" (p. 85)?

In her poetry, Oliver soars. In her prose, she digs deep.

G. Merritt

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Only Wish? That "Long Life" was Longer....., July 4, 2004

By	Julie Jordan Scott "Writer, Life Coach - Owne... (Bakersfield, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Long Life: Essays And Other Writings (Hardcover)

I will be perpetually grateful to my friend who introduced me to Mary Oliver's work. I was so excited to read she had released another book I could not wait to get my hands on it. The Amazon box arrived and I excitedly tore it open and began to read.

Exquisite. One simple word to describe Mary Oliver's work.

I enjoy her poetry and her books about how to write poetry so I was curious about how this mostly essay book would fare.

I was not disappointed.

A couple of the chapters wobbled very slightly: I was curious about the inclusion of the previously published essays on Emerson and Hawthorne. While they were interesting, they seemed a bit out of place with the other chapters.

I especially appreciated the peek into parts of the author's personal life that I had not been privy to in the past. I loved witnessing more of her life, connecting to the stories and nodding my head as she observed the day unfold about her.

My favorite quote from the book goes like this:

"It is the intimate, never the general, that is teacherly. The idea of love is not love. The idea of the ocean is neither salt nor sand; the face of the seal cannot rise from the idea to stare at you, to astound your heart."

Ahhhh - yes!

The book is short - only 101 pages - and I know I will read it again and again and again and hope Mary Oliver blesses us with another book soon.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Emotionally resonating, cognitively gifted reading , April 11, 2005

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Long Life: Essays And Other Writings showcases the prose and poetry of Mary Oliver who has won both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award for her work. A master wordsmith, Mary Oliver has authored more than twenty books, and in Long Life shows herself adept at the art of the essay as well as a gifted poet whose lyrical commentaries range from describing a goosefish stranded at low tide to being baptized by the mist from a whale's blowhole. Long Life is highly recommended, emotionally resonating, cognitively gifted reading and a welcome addition to personal and academic library literary collections.