Reading the Bible Backwards (Signed)

Priest, Robert

ISBN 10: 1550228358 / ISBN 13: 9781550228359

Published by ECW, Toronto, 2008

About this Item

Minor bumping of cover fore corners. Poems. Inscribed by author on title page to fellow Canadian writers Susan Musgrave and Stephen Reid "To Susan & Stephen / in friendship & awe / Love R. Priest". Seller Inventory # 16482

Bibliographic Details

Title: Reading the Bible Backwards (Signed)

Publisher: ECW, Toronto

Publication Date: 2008

Binding: Trade Paperback Original

Condition: Near Fine.

Signed: Signed by Author

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Reverse engineering the word, meme splicing, morpheme replacement therapy, phonetic modifications: these are some of the techniques in play throughout Reading the Bible Backwards, the lyrical thought experiments that make up this eagerly anticipated new collection of poems by Robert Priest. By throwing the Bible and other cultural narratives on the turntable and spinning them backwards, Priest unleashes surprisingly new but strangely familiar music and meaning. Whether the movements are sideways, inverted, or omni-directional, his satire has never been sharper or darker. Ultimately, though, Priest’s lyric voice has never been more finely tuned or elegant, especially in the wonderfully groundbreaking I Love You Forwards” poems that afford this book its remarkable balance.

Review:

"Priest can sling figurative language with the best of them. . . . The guiding thematic spirit of this entertaining collection may be backwardness, but it showcases a poet whose roving imagination is omni-directional." --"Toronto Star"

"These clever exercises are not only amusing but can playfully upend the most contrived cultural sound byte, and invest it with new meaning. The poet also gives the funhouse treatment to numerous biblical narratives with irreverent glee." "--Scene Magazine"

"Multi-dimensional creativity." --"Poetency & Apoetasy"

"The latest book from Robert Priest is something sick y'all. It's innovative, and the guy is a bit of a master. . . . It's lyrical, mesmerizing and not overtly melodic or word anorexic pomo, but tenderly sublime. . . . This is a sensational book." "--Broken Pencil"