American Smooth
Subtitle: Poems
By: Rita Dove.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; W.W. Norton & Co.
Published: September 30, 2004
Place of publication: New York, USA
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 143
ISBN-13: 9780393059878
Subjects: National characteristics, American -- Poetry.; African Americans -- Poetry.
Genres: Poetry.
Description: "Rita Dove's poems pay homage to our kaleidoscopic cultural heritage - from the shimmer of an operatic soprano to Bessie Smith's mournful wail; from paradise lost to angel food cake; from hotshots at the local shooting range to the Negro jazz band in World War I whose music conquered Europe before the Allied advance. Like the ballroom-dancing couple of the title poem, smiling and making the difficult seem effortless, Dove explores the shifting surfaces between perception and intimation. Hattie McDaniel, the first African American to win an Oscar, makes her way through crowds to receive the award. A girl in Harlem studies the flirtations of the adult world so that someday, she, too, can "pop right out.""--BOOK JACKET.