For a Living: THE POETRY OF WORK
This substantial collection surveys many different kinds and styles of laboring in poems by contemporary writers ranging from Cornelius Eady's "Why Do So Few Blacks Study Creative Writing?" to Deb Casey's pleasurably frenetic account of a mother who must drive her children to various appointments ("ZOOOOOOOM"). For some tastes, the book will seem too long, and its type overly small and tight, but Coles and Oresick, who have collaborated previously on Working Classics: Poems on Industrial Life, have clearly chosen to include as much as possible in order to illuminate a theme: not just work but "nonindustrial" work, that of a short-order cook, a woman giving birth, a baseball coach, even a scholar in pursuit of tenure. The poems themselves comprise a sort of corps, linked by mostly humble callings and their habits. Edward Hirsch describes the "vague feeling of panic" overtaking a subway commuter; Dana Gioia elegantly evokes the Andersonian epiphany of an overworked office employee. Excerpts from Louis Simpson's series, "The Associate," wryly recount life at a book publishing company. But of course, it's the language, and not the job, that recommends the poetry.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.