How is Eliza's divorce connected to the rise of 20th century quantum physics? Why does the steamy promise of """"a key to unlocking a door at a cheap motel"""" lead us to a consideration of Moby Dick? What does one physician's fake appointment book have to do with Columbus, werewolves and Fanny Burney's mastectomy? Goldbarth sets his story of love's daily pleasures and griefs upon a foundation of ever-branching footnotes. Along the way on this strange, mindbending journey, he shows us how our lives are both confused and empowered by the multilayered universe around us.
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"No one else now is writing what Albert Goldbarth gives us because no one else can." --Frederick Busch
Goldbarth sets his story of love's daily pleasures and grief upon a foundation of ever-branching footnotes - from the strange worlds of supermarket tabloids and the Legion of Super-Heroes to more contemplative forays into gender politics, Dickens scholarship, and medical anomalies. By taking us on this mind-bending journey, he shows us how our lives are both confused and empowered by the multilayered universe around us.
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paperback. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_401993253
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Paperback. Condition: Fine. First Edition. Trade softcover in smooth wraps with French flaps and Francois Clouet illustration to front and spine, 8vo. 214pp. Fine. Pencilled marks erased from first pages of text and notes. Else as new: bright, tight, sharp and (now) unmarked. Neither remainder nor ex-lib. Seller Inventory # 011378
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Seller: Arundel Books, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Trade Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A First Graywolf Press Printing. 8vo. - over 7 3/4 in. - 9 3/4 in. 214pp., a clean copy in Very Good condition with light shelfwear. Seller Inventory # 631952
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Seller: Remarks Used Books, Pittsfield, MA, U.S.A.
Soft cover. Condition: As New. 1st Edition. First Graywolf Printing, 2003. Bright, clean & tight copy, unread, in AS NEW condition. "PIECES OF PAYNE is the first novel by Albert Goldbarth, a two-time winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry. [] How is Eliza's divorce connected to the rise of twentieth-century quantum physics? Why does the steamy promise of 'a key unlocking a door at a cheap motel along I-35' lead us to a consideration of Moby-Dick? What does one physician's fake appointment book have to do with Columbus, with werewolves, with Fanny Burney's famously excruciating nineteenth-century mastectomy? Goldbarth sets his story of love's daily pleasures and griefs upon a foundation of ever-branching footnotes--from the strange worlds of supermarket tabloids and the Legion of Super-Heroes to more contemplative forays into gender politics, Dickens scholarship, and medical anomalies. By taking us on this mind-bending journey, he shows us how our lives are both confused and empowered by the multilayered universe around us." [publisher copy] "Through his genius we rediscover the world's history and our own. No one else is writing what Goldbarth gives us because no one else can."--Frederick Busch. "In his first foray into fiction, prize-winning poet (Saving Lives) and essayist (Many Circles) Goldbarth offers a wide-ranging exploration of ideas, incorporating concepts and tidbits from science, references to the arts, snippets of history and a gallimaufry of contemporary news stories. Goldbarth himself, in his day-job role as a college professor, serves as narrator of the novel's first section, telling the story of his friend Eliza Phillips, a woman dealing with memories of her father, a surgeon who zealously performed mastectomies, and the circumstances of her difficult divorce. Early on, Eliza found mental equilibrium in the discoveries of astronomer Cecilia Payne, who identified 'parts of the universe I could count on not to change unrecognizably . . .' Episodic and elliptical, this short opening section is intriguing, if deliberately lacking in coherence. The second, longer portion of the book, captioned 'Notes,' consists entirely of 50 footnotes to the first section. Here, Goldbarth begins to poke around in the banalities and truths of what he calls our 'Ramada Inn and baconburger lives,' trying to outline larger issues by examining quotes and events from the lives of Melville, Dickens, Jack London, Walt Whitman and other prominent literary figures. His theory, according to which the presence of a higher consciousness plays a significant role in the seemingly random events of daily life, is also supported by tidbits of bizarre contemporary news stories. There is humor aplenty in these often incredible slices of 'reality.' Riffing on the paradoxical tragedies and miracles of our civilization, Goldbarth has produced a thought-provoking book that offers the reader ample recompense for its challenging format."--Publishers Weekly. Pristine paperback w/brilliant corners, crisp edges, French flaps w/a built-in bonus bookmark, a square & tight binding w/no creases in spine, all quite presentable & formidable. Seller Inventory # RUB2765
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Paperback. Condition: New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title!. Seller Inventory # Q-1555973787
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