Maura Stanton, Cities in the Sea, stories: Blurring the boundaries between fairy tale and vérité, Stanton incisively taps into the mysteries of contemporary life in these magical new stories, examining the nature of narrative and dreams. (Michigan)
Thomas Lux, The Cradle Place, poems: Lux asks questions about language and intention and about connections to nature in fifty-two new poems, bringing to delightful life the “refreshing iconoclasms” that Rita Dove has admired in his work. (Houghton Mifflin)
Maxine Kumin, Bringing Together, poems: These poems from nine earlier collections crackle with intensity, offering Kumin’s refreshing and singular perspective on everyday experiences, examining the pain of loss, the idealism of youth, and the endurance of the natural world. (Norton)
Gerald Stern, What I Can’t Bear Losing, essays: Tenderly touching upon a number of events, from Sundays spent in Calvinist Pittsburgh to being shot in Newark, Stern provides magnificent lessons on the awakening of an artistic consciousness. (Norton)
Carl Phillips, The Rest of Love, poems: With his signature terse line and syntax, Phillips examines the myths that we make and return to in the name of desire, delving into the constant tension between abandon and control. (FSG)
Jay Neugeboren, Open Heart, memoir: In this inspiring book, Neugeboren thoughtfully recounts his emergency bypass surgery and ruminates on the state of doctor-patient relationships through discussions with four friends from high school, all prominent physicians. (Houghton Mifflin)
Philip Levine recommends What I Can’t Bear Losing, a memoir by Gerald Stern: “This book would have been more accurately titled What I Can’t Lose, since it is made up of a series of essays that deal with the images and events that have haunted Stern all his life. As in his poems, Stern is…
C. D. Wright, One Big Self, text and photographs: Wright and photographer Deborah Luster collaborate to produce intimate, haunting, and oddly gorgeous portraits of prisoners in Louisiana, giving voice to their isolation, heartache, and individualism. (Twin Palms)
Tobias Wolff, Old School, a novel: A scholarship student at a New England prep school vies for a literary prize in Wolff’s marvelous first novel, and the boy ends up being seduced by the irresistible power of self-creation. (Knopf)
Winter 2023-24 - Print