The Little Death of Self

Nine Essays toward Poetry

Fiction & Literature, Essays & Letters, Essays, Anthologies, Poetry
Cover of the book The Little Death of Self by Marianne Boruch, University of Michigan Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Marianne Boruch ISBN: 9780472122776
Publisher: University of Michigan Press Publication: April 25, 2017
Imprint: University of Michigan Press Language: English
Author: Marianne Boruch
ISBN: 9780472122776
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Publication: April 25, 2017
Imprint: University of Michigan Press
Language: English

A volume in the Poets on Poetry series, which collects critical works by contemporary poets, gathering together the articles, interviews, and book reviews by which they have articulated the poetics of a new generation.
 
The line between poetry (the delicate, surprising not-quite) and the essay (the emphatic so-there!) is thin, easily crossed. Both welcome a deep mulling-over, endlessly mixing image and idea and running with scissors; certainly each distrusts the notion of premise or formulaic progression. Marianne Boruch’s essays in The Little Death of Self emerged by way of odd details or bothersome questions that would not quit—Why does the self grow smaller as the poem grows enormous? Why does closure in a poem so often mean keep going? Must we stalk the poem or does the poem stalk us until the world clicks open?

Boruch’s intrepid curiosity led her to explore fields of expertise about which she knew little: aviation, music, anatomy, history, medicine, photography, fiction, neuroscience, physics, anthropology, painting, and drawing. There’s an addiction to metaphor here, an affection for image, sudden turns of thinking, and the great subjects of poetry: love, death, time, knowledge. There’s amazement at the dumb luck of staying long enough in an inkling to make it a poem at all. Poets such as Keats, Stevens, Frost, Plath, Auden, and Bishop, along with painters, inventors, doctors, scientists, composers, musicians, neighbors, friends, and family—all traffic blatantly or under the surface—and one gets a glimpse of such fellow travelers now and then.

 

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A volume in the Poets on Poetry series, which collects critical works by contemporary poets, gathering together the articles, interviews, and book reviews by which they have articulated the poetics of a new generation.
 
The line between poetry (the delicate, surprising not-quite) and the essay (the emphatic so-there!) is thin, easily crossed. Both welcome a deep mulling-over, endlessly mixing image and idea and running with scissors; certainly each distrusts the notion of premise or formulaic progression. Marianne Boruch’s essays in The Little Death of Self emerged by way of odd details or bothersome questions that would not quit—Why does the self grow smaller as the poem grows enormous? Why does closure in a poem so often mean keep going? Must we stalk the poem or does the poem stalk us until the world clicks open?

Boruch’s intrepid curiosity led her to explore fields of expertise about which she knew little: aviation, music, anatomy, history, medicine, photography, fiction, neuroscience, physics, anthropology, painting, and drawing. There’s an addiction to metaphor here, an affection for image, sudden turns of thinking, and the great subjects of poetry: love, death, time, knowledge. There’s amazement at the dumb luck of staying long enough in an inkling to make it a poem at all. Poets such as Keats, Stevens, Frost, Plath, Auden, and Bishop, along with painters, inventors, doctors, scientists, composers, musicians, neighbors, friends, and family—all traffic blatantly or under the surface—and one gets a glimpse of such fellow travelers now and then.

 

More books from University of Michigan Press

Cover of the book Policy Issues Affecting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Families by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book Transgression in Korea by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book Interpretive Quantification by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book International Political Earthquakes by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book Moving Beyond Prozac, DSM, and the New Psychiatry by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book Titles, Conflict, and Land Use by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book Microdramas by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book The Troubles in Ballybogoin by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book Mex-Ciné by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book Traces of the Past by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book Why They Die by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book From Villain to Hero by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book Institutional Change in American Politics by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book The Subject and Other Subjects by Marianne Boruch
Cover of the book Look at Me! by Marianne Boruch
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy