Contradictions - Softcover

Corn, Alfred

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1556592868 ISBN 13: 9781556592867

Publisher: Copper Canyon Press, 2008

Synopsis

"Alfred Corn is one of our finest living poets."--The Nation

About this title

About the Author:

Alfred Corn is a poet, novelist, and art critic. His poems appear regularly in The New Yorker, The Nation, and the New Republic. He has traveled widely and taught at many universities, including Columbia, UCLA, and Yale. He lives in New York.

From Library Journal:

Corn has eight books of poetry to his credit-not to mention fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and elsewhere-so his astonishing craft should come as no surprise. He moves easily from sophisticated musings on time and memory ("a chill to count how many years it's been") to affecting elegies for friends and lovers ravaged by AIDS ("it's your graveled,/ ambling voice I miss, the live connection,/ no longer in service") to the witty "Double Portrait with Refrigerator Magnets" ("Which never held in place a house and yard/ crayoned by kids we didn't adopt or have") to an off-kilter account of a car repair that quickly turns cosmic. These are learned poems, rich with historical context; the first work alone follows the "common thread" from fable to Rome to contemporary tragedy, and throughout Corn zings gracefully from the Torah to Celan to Vermeer. At times, the tone can feel formidable, even a trifle distant. But in a world where "Hey, dude," passes as lyrical, the elevated diction is most refreshing. A vigorous and arresting work; highly recommended.
Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Copper Canyon Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1556592868
• ISBN 13: 9781556592867
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96