The Complete Perfectionist: A Poetics of Work

Jiménez, Juan Ramón

ISBN 10: 0983322007 / ISBN 13: 9780983322009

Published by Swan Isle Press, 2012

About this Item

The book is in good condition with all pages and cover intact, including the dust jacket if originally issued. The spine may show light wear. Pages may contain some notes or highlighting, and there might be a "From the library of" label. Boxed set packaging, shrink wrap, or included media like CDs may be missing. Seller Inventory # BSM.IBT4

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Complete Perfectionist: A Poetics of Work

Publisher: Swan Isle Press

Publication Date: 2012

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: good

About this title

Synopsis:

Few have written more memorably about the work of poetry and the poetics of work than the Spanish poet Juan Ramon Jimenez, winner of a Nobel Prize and discerning teacher of an entire generation of Spanish poets. In this series of aphorisms, Jimenez brings together the elements of perfect work, both in writing and in other realms. Among these elements - the wellsprings of any kind of creation - are instinct and inspiration, memory and forgetting, silence and noise, love and regret. A treasure for poets and writers, "The Complete Perfectionist" includes helpful commentary by noted translator Christopher Maurer and shows perfection to be a process of "becoming" rather than an end product. In these insightful pages, a poet haunted by perfection reveals his methods of writing and revision, and measures the social and ethical dimensions of el trabajo gustoso, or pleasurable work. This revised and expanded edition includes many aphorisms recently published in Spanish and not previously included.

Review:

"This is a gorgeous little book."--Robert Bly

"Maurer provides ample context for Jiménez's maxims, so that we begin to know Jiménez as a person and a poet as well as a philosopher. The aphorisms are marvelous nuggets of wisdom."--Booklist

"Maurer has fashioned a gem of a book, a fertile source of insights for perfection-seekers in many fields."

--Publishers Weekly