Synopses & Reviews
"Good poems are triumphs over the unlikely," Stephen Dunn says. "They make us pay attention in new ways." In his second new and selected collection, Dunn subtly enlarges our sense of possibility. His new poems, suffused with affection and rue for our world, occasionally address the metaphysical, as in these lines--
from "Talk to God"
Ease into your misgivings
Ask him if in his weakness
he was ever responsible
for a pettiness--some weather, say,
brought in to show who's boss
when no one seemed sufficiently moved
by a sunset or the shape of an egg.
Ask him if when he gave us desire
he had underestimated its power.
Synopsis
Brilliant new poems and an expansive gathering from six collections by a Pulitzer Prize winner celebrated as "indispensable.""Good poems are triumphs over the unlikely," Stephen Dunn says. "They make us pay attention in new ways." In his second new and selected collection, Dunn subtly enlarges our sense of possibility. His new poems, suffused with affection and rue for our world, occasionally address the metaphysical.
Synopsis
Brilliant new poems and an expansive gathering from six collections by a Pulitzer Prize winner celebrated as "indispensable."
Synopsis
Good poems are triumphs over the unlikely, Stephen Dunn says. Theymake us pay attention in newways. In hissecond new andselected collection, Dunn subtlyenlarges our sense of possibility. His newpoems, suffused with affectionand rue for our world, occasionally address the metaphysical, as in these lines-fromTalk to GodEaseintoyour misgivingsAsk him if in his weaknesshe was everresponsiblefor apettiness-some weather, say, brought in toshow who's bosswhen no one seemed sufficientlymovedby a sunset or the shapeof an egg.Ask him if when he gave usdesirehe hadunderestimated its power.
Synopsis
What Goes Ondisplays the evolving style and sensibility of a major award-winning poet, and a traceable growth that has blossomed into a provocative confrontation with questions of consciousness and existence. Stephen Dunn"s poems probe life"s big questions without ever losing sight of the significance of the mundane.
About the Author
Stephen Dunn is the author of seventeen poetry collections, including What Goes On: New and Selected Poems 1995-2009 and, most recently, Here and Now. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his collection Different Hours. He has also been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and has received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. A Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Richard Stockton College, he lives in Frostburg, Maryland, with his wife, the writer Barbara Hurd.