Synopsis
FINALIST FOR THE 2020 PULITZER PRIZE IN POETRY
A finalist for both the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award and a the LA Times Book Award, and longlisted for the National Book Award.
Through her many projects across numerous genres, Mary Ruefle has proven herself a singular artist, drawing many fans from around the world to her unique vision. With Dunce she returns to the practice that has always been at her core: the making of poems. With her startlingly fresh sensibility, she enraptures us in poem after poem by the intensity of her attention, with the imaginative flourishes of her being-in-the-world, which is always deep with mysteries, unexpected appearances, and abiding yearning.
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About the Author
Mary Ruefle is the author of many books, including Dunce(Wave Books, 2019), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry, and the LA Times Book Award; My Private Property (Wave Books, 2016), Trances of the Blast (Wave Books, 2013), Madness, Rack, and Honey: Collected Lectures (Wave Books, 2012), which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism, and Selected Poems (Wave Books, 2010), which was the winner of the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. She is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Robert Creeley Award, an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, and a Whiting Award. She lives in Bennington, Vermont, where she serves as the state's poet laureate.
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Errand
To find things out—
that is the great adventure!
To find out the writing on the birthday cake
was toothpaste.
To find out Musical Chairs
was for real.
Find out Lord made the world
then threw the leftover rocks
in a pile and left.
Nettles growing nearby
spliced themselves into
days—find it out!
Checkless griff. Bitter love.
Modern hell. Bloody tears.
Beneath an ordinary glance
dwells an explosive.
Go to market.
Find all this out,
find everything out.
Even if your last day is
incomplete, even if something up there
thinks you are marzipan,
keep finding out—
for the stork who dropped us off
in the wilderness returns,
but with a bigger maw this time
so he can accommodate us
and all that we have found out
even if the terriblest part
is so condensed
we bear a resemblance
to the night sky.
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Dunce
Seller: Dream Books Co., Denver, CO, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: very_good. Pages are clean with no markings. May show minor signs of wear or cosmetic defects marks, cuts, bends, or scuffs on the cover, spine, pages, or dust jacket. May have remainder marks on edges. Seller Inventory # DBV.1940696852.VG
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Dunce
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Dunce
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Condition: acceptable. Fairly worn, but readable and intact. If applicable: Dust jacket, disc or access code may not be included. Seller Inventory # GICWV.1940696852.A
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Dunce
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
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Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G1940696852I3N00
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Dunce
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Hardcover. Condition: As New. No Jacket. Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G1940696852I2N00
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Dunce
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Hardcover. Condition: As New. No Jacket. Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G1940696852I2N00
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Dunce
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
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Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G1940696852I3N10
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Dunce
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
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Dunce
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Former library book; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G1940696852I4N10
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Dunce
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
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Condition: Very Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 19133364-75