The Art Of Subtraction: New And Selected Poems
Parini's new poems, which constitute most of this flinty and satisfying collection, are edgy, angry, and satirical, cleansing in their ire, cathartic in their dark humor. Taut and unsettling, these works reflect the mental state of siege engendered by September 11 and the war in Iraq, manifest as pervasive feelings of helplessness, insignificance, and skepticism, the out-of-kilter sensation of nightmares brought to waking life. The poet, terse and to the point, addresses the reader directly in simple and familiar words that form poems as finely balanced and earthy as stacked stone walls. Parini writes with imagination and verisimilitude about nature, but he is most concerned with the doings of humankind, war and politics, our towers and power stations, the enormity of our lies, the indifference we cultivate as a form of self-protection. For Parini, a high school "is a kind of furnace," with the students as its fuel, and a family reunion is an invasion. His bracing new works are accompanied by key selections fromThe Anthracite Country(1982),Town Life(1988), andHouse of Days(1998).Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.