3 Sections: Poems - Softcover

Seshadri, Vijay

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1555977162 ISBN 13: 9781555977160

Publisher: Graywolf Press, 2015

Synopsis

The winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, now in paperback

First I had three

apocalyptic visions, each more terrible than the last. The graves open, and the sea rises to kill us all.
Then the doorbell rang, and I went downstairs and signed for two packages―
―from "This Morning"

In an array of poetic forms from the rhyming lyric to the philosophical meditation to the prose essay, 3 Sections confronts perplexing divisions of contemporary life―a wayward history, an indeterminate future, and a perpetual longing to out-think time. This is a vital book by one of America's best poets.

About this title

About the Author:

Vijay Seshadri is the author of three poetry collections, Wild Kingdom, The Long Meadow, winner of the James Laughlin Award, and 3 Sections, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. He teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

From Booklist:

“You understand what I mean, you others, / or understand at least how shocking the obvious can be / if you’re ready for it.” Sounding like a commandment, this assertion exemplifies the virtues of Seshadri’s third book. Namely, looking hard at things and situations, long sentences constructed of numerous clauses, lines of irregular length, many poems alike in appearance and style, and irony dripping like poison. A few of the poems do not survive the infusion, reading as precious instead of delicate. There is a marvelous prose interlude, “Pacific Fishes of Canada,” about a misguided but nonetheless formative adventure on a trawler in the Bering Sea. If the whole book were this pure and anguished, this would be an indispensable collection. The narrative poem “Personal Essay” is the longest piece in the book. In it, Seshadri, winner of the James Laughlin Award, risks everything, but cuts perilously close to mere effect. He is so talented, so able, and writes with such panache, Seshadri is in danger of a weakness few contemporary poets even approach. --Michael Autrey

About this edition

• Publisher: Graywolf Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1555977162
• ISBN 13: 9781555977160
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 88