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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 811.54
EAN: 9781556591006
ISBN: 1556591004
Label: Copper Canyon Press
Manufacturer: Copper Canyon Press
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 86
Publication Date: 1995-06-01
Publisher: Copper Canyon Press
Studio: Copper Canyon Press

Arthur Sze has constructed a complicated tapestry of poems informed by his Chinese American heritage, his rich knowledge of American Indian culture, and classical Chinese poetry. Telling you about his background, influences, and ideas falls pretty far short of the mark, though. These poems succeed at the level of execution, in finding just the right words to suggest, say, a Zen sensibility, while using contemporary American English to describe the complicated interplay between the natural and constructed worlds. From "The Redshifting Web": "You may draw a cloud pattern in cement / setting in a patio, or wake to / sparkling ferns melting on a windowpane. / The struck, plucked, bowed, blown / sounds of the world come and go."

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Breahtaking
Review: I was given the assignment to read this book of poetry as part of a final exam during a creative writing class, and I absolutely adored it. Sze's poems are beautiful. I could not do them justice in this simple little review. His words are chosen carefully, the sentences ebbing and flowing into one another perfectly. I love going back and reading these poems, looking for something I missed or stumbling upon a gem of a sentence among the pages. Highly recommended!

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