Modern History: Prose Poems 1987-2007 - Softcover

Buckley, Christopher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1932195688 ISBN 13: 9781932195682

Publisher: Tupelo Press, 2008

Synopsis

Poetry. This intensely personal collection of symphonic prose poems uses politics, physics, popular culture, nostalgia, and off-the-wall humor to articulate and ignite metaphysical arguments. Christopher Buckley employs a sardonic wit and poignant lyricism to wheedle clarity out of chaos and coax wisdom out of absurdity. Just as he investigates and questions the vagaries of knowledge, so does he explore the prose poem, testing and probing its boundaries to see if it will accommodate his powerful insight and decidedly original outlook. His facility with scientific precepts is matched and cleverly juxtaposed with his penchant for wacky nostalgic detail; old movies, simonized Chryslers, and doo-wop music are the backdrop for a spirited glide through twenty years of this eminent poet's pursuit of the absolute. "The extravagant lyricism, the questing intelligence, the spiritual longing, the honesty and the zany humor that mark his many previous books are all at play here"--Gary Young. This is Christopher Buckley's sixteenth book of verse. He has edited four anthologies of contemporary poems, and he is currently a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry for 2007-2008. His work has appeared in such publications as The New Yorker, The American Poetry Review, and The Nation. He currently teaches in the creative writing department at the University of California Riverside.

About this title

About the Author:

A child of California, Christopher Buckley grew up in the edenic hills, beaches and woods around Santa Barbara/Montecito in the 1950s and 60s. He received his B.A. from St. Marys College of California, an M.A. in English/Creative Writing from San Diego State University, and an M.F.A. in poetry at University of California Irvine. He has taught writing and creative writing at California State University Fresno, University of California Santa Barbara, West Chester State University in Pennsylvania, and for the last eleven years has taught in the creative writing department at the University of California Riverside. Modern History is his 16th book of poems.

Review:

humor is a constant tug on the harness of nostalgia. Buckleys ongoing wonder at the miracle of what happens in the world and how experience lodges under the skin, serves as a way home and a way forward."" Killarney Clary

""Christopher Buckley has been for 20 years one of our pioneers of the prose poemBrian Clements, editor of Sentence: A Journal of Prose

These ruminations on time, morality and the meaning of life showcase Christopher Buckleys enthusiasms and verbal gusto As a whole, the book adds up to spending time with a witty, knowledgeable, wise companion whose mind and exclamations never fail to intrigue. Morton Marcus --Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Tupelo Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1932195688
• ISBN 13: 9781932195682
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 112