The Cloud of Knowable Things (Paperback)

~ (Author) "When a poem speaks by itself, it has a spark and can be considered part of a divine conversation..." (more)
Key Phrases: Mia Farrow

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ranging in subject from the metaphysical woes of consumer culture to the attractions of silence and "The Seven Veils of Spring," Equi (Voice Over) combines two virtues that don't normally go together. On the one hand, this book contains short, witty, easily understood poems about shoes, hair and shopping; on the other, the poems explore, with care and wariness, the language we use to talk about them. Terse stanzas and whittled-down remarks in these poems go beyond her previous work in reacting to every delight and annoyance of metropolitan life. One series of half-comic poems entitled "fantasy" presents "Homeless club kids/ living on rice, beans/ and Gitanes"; another series ("Return of the Sensuous Reader") invites us to "change the gender of all the pronouns in a poem/ and see for yourself." Equi even manages to touch-lightly, distantly and effectively-on life in the city after Sept. 11, both in "Can't Complain" (with its "anti- apocalypse") and in the journal-like "Reset" ("Starting over./ No loitering"). Equi's most frequent attitude is a gently appalled feminism, a stance one step back from everything; her best work combines lyric depth with restrained and epigrammatic wit, respecting not just "the so-called power of words" but a quiet resistance to them.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

"Friend to objects, saints and dead celebrities alike, Elaine Equi is the real McCoy: a keeper of the sacred flame of language-joy. Her work re-alerts us to our earliest love of words as toys, jewels, confections. In doing so she juices up our thinking. What's better than writing that delights as it sharpens the mind? You've heard of 'smart drinks' or 'smart drugs,' said to chemically boost intellect? These are truly smart poems." -- Amy Gerstler, L.A. Weekly

Elaine Equi is the author of many books, including Voice-Over, which won the San Francisco State Poetry Award. Widely anthologized, her poems appear in Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology and The Best American Poetry for the years 1989, 1995, and 2002. She lives in New York City.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: Coffee House Press; 1 edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566891426
• ISBN-13: 978-1566891424
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,942,463 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A collection of free-verse and varied-style poems, August 10, 2003

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

The Cloud Of Knowable Things is a collection of free-verse and varied-style poems by Elaine Equi that peer closely into everyday surroundings and unearth the overlooked enigma of the sublime workings of the cosmos. Minutia and grand unknowable designs combine in a cavalcade of lilting syllables. The Lost Poems: Your Average Dream/Fetish-Shroud/Victor Mature's Kiss/The Snow Queen's Summer House//In a Nutshell/De-composing/vintage Blouse/Politics and Vaseline//Mister Preface/Charm-Quake/Postponing the Future/Notice Each Part//The Cloud's Tantrum/Harlequin with a Gun