A Howard Nemerov Reader (Volume 1) - Softcover

Nemerov, Howard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 082620936X ISBN 13: 9780826209368

Publisher: University of Missouri, 1993

Synopsis

Although known primarily as a poet, Howard Nemerov has distinguished himself as a critic, short story writer, novelist, and poet. With nearly four dozen poems including two that have not yet been collected, eight stories, fourteen essays, and one complete novel, A Howard Nemerov Reader represents the career of one of America's most distinguished men of letters.

About this title

About the Author

Howard Nemerov wrote more than thirty books of poetry, fiction, and criticism. His dozens of awards included the National Book Award (1978), the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1978), the Bollingen Prize for Poetry (1981), and the National Medal for the Arts in Poetry (1978). He had a distinguished career as a teacher at Washington University in St. Louis and served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1988 to 1990.

From Publishers Weekly

Poet laureate of the U.S. (1988-1990), critic, fiction writer and teacher, Nemerov here gathers selected works--most of it prose long out of print--from 1947 to 1987. His poetry is formal and disciplined, made radiant by the wry, the fresh, the shocking image. Reminders of mortality arise from his observation of creatures: the "wide and moony grin" of "The Goose Fish," over whose remains two lovers stumble on a beach at night. In the charming "Digressions Around a Crow," the essayist watches his son play with an oddly tame crow. Other essays indicate that the act of poetry is ascetic dedication ("The Swaying Form: A Problem in Poetry"), that great art is sacred ("Composition and Fate in the Short Novel"). Nemerov's critical stance is the traditional, humanely patriarchal aesthetic of mid-century, undisturbed by current trends; his criteria for excellence derive from those he admires, namely, cultured white male authors. The fiction ranges from primly whimsical stories to the novel Federigo (1954), a learned, witty farce of adultery and the doppelganger.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Missouri
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 082620936X
• ISBN 13: 9780826209368
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 552