Deaths and Transfigurations Poems (Paraclete Poetry S.) - Hardcover

Mariani, Paul L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1557254524 ISBN 13: 9781557254528

Publisher: Paraclete Press, 2005

Synopsis

This provocative collection of new poems is the latest in a series of Paul Mariani's rich contributions to American literature. These spiritually searching poems develop themes of personal loss - the deaths we experience - as well as the quest for new life often known as transfiguration. Barry Moser, one of the world's foremost book designers and illustrators, has created a series of original engravings within the text that correspond to the major themes in Mariani's verse.

About this title

Review:

"It's hard to believe that it's been nine years since Paul Mariani's last collection of poems. He's such an essential, central presence for those who care about both contemporary poetry and the Christian faith---and he has produced so substantial a body of work---that it's easy to forget that he's still turning out terrific work. Paraclete Press is to be commended for bringing out this collection: in just a few short years it has begun to transform itself into a publisher of serious literature." -Image July 1, 2005 Mariani's first new collection in nine years takes as its major themes death in all its forms and the quest for new life. If the images here are simple, the emotions are not. "Wasn't It Us You Were Seeking?" addresses the refusal to mourn a mother 10 years dead, while "Solar Ice" describes the rituals of the Catholic Mass. Others are about memories of fleeting childhoods over sooner than one would have thought, of Saturday night first dates, of fathers worrying about keeping food on the table, of the unexpected suddenness of death sweeping down on a clear September day in 2001, and of patients who never appeared at hospital doors. Recalled, too, are early university teaching days, when, discussing death and dying in Hemingway, Mariani learned of President Kennedy's assassination. But renewal is celebrated, too, in the coming of spring to New England, the way light strikes a pitcher, a wedding, and the cycles of life, so that this luminous collection is finally about what it means to live. June Sawyers Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved -June Sawyers Booklist August 1, 2005 "Deaths & Transfigurations. . .is rich with references to literature---particularly to Dante and Gerard Manley Hopkins---and to Scripture. It seems as Mariani ages, his obsession with his past continues to grow. . .Mariani is able to dazzle with his beautiful craftsmanship." Books & Culture August 1, 2005 ". . .this luminous collection is finally about what it means to live." Booklist August 1, 2005

About the Author:

Barry Moser's works are represented in many prestigious collections around the world including the Metropolitan Museum in New York, British Museum in London, Harvard and Princeton University Libraries, The Vatican Library, and the Library of Congress. Moser has illustrated nearly 300 titles, including Appalachia: The Voices of Singing Birds by Cynthia Rylant, winner of the Boston Globe Horn Book Nonfiction Award; and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, winner of the American Book Award for design and illustration. He lives in western Massachusetts.

About this edition

• Publisher: Paraclete Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1557254524
• ISBN 13: 9781557254528
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 96