University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001 Paper: 978-0-8229-5763-8 | eISBN: 978-0-8229-7981-4 Library of Congress Classification PS3509.D583T67 2001 Dewey Decimal Classification 811.52
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
This is the first book in the Pitt Poetry Series by this popular and enigmatic poet, considered the foremost writer of prose poetry in America. In eleven collections over thirty years, Edson has created his own poetic genre, a surreal philosophical fable, easy to enter, but difficult to leave behind. In The Tormented Mirror, Edson continues and refines his form in seventy-three new poems.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Russell Edson is a playwright, novelist, and poet. He is the author of numerous poetry collections, including The Tormented Mirror, The Reason Why the Closet-Man is Never Sad, The Wounded Breakfast: Ten Poems, and The Tunnel: Selected Poems.
REVIEWS
“It is not surprising to discover . . . that Edson is an artist as well as a poet. His treatment of language is essentially plastic, verging at time on the cubistic.” --Poetry Magazine
“Edson is the undisputed master of the prose poem. . . . though his poems are nearly always accessible, dealing with the commonplace and commonness of life, they do so in highly uncommon ways, and our assumptions are continually being put topsy-turvy.” --Choice
“His prose poems are brief glimpses into a visionary world with haunting analogies to our own. The tone ranges from weird humor through the poignant and melancholy to the genuinely scary. The images are hard and clear.” --Library Journal
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
1
The Haunted House
The Secret Graveyard
A Letter From Home
Characters
An Old Woman’s Children
Genital Secrets
Monkey Achievement
That . . .
Sweet Tooth
The Babies
The Flowerpot
The Glandular Condition
The Key
The Laws
The New Father
The Position
The Sleeper’s Dark
The Tormented Mirror
Where Charity Begins
2
The Antiques Shop
Accidents
Baby Pianos
Balls
Madam’s Heart
Meanwhile . . .
Pork Chops
Sleep
The Academic Sigh
A Redundancy of Horses
The Alfresco Moment
The Bloodworthy Correspondence
The Breast
The Clock
The Horse of Fashion
Sunset
Urinating
On the Writing of a Prose Poem
3
Poetry
Bread
Feathers
Medical Stew
Nocturne
One Who Bathes in Moonlight
Symmetry
The Fruit Bowl
The Joy Attendant on the Little Journey
The Message
The Passion
The Rabbit Story
Night Song
The Square Wheel
The Stuff of Dreams
The Traveling Circus
The Veterinarian
Under Great Light Flooded Clouds
4
The Grinding
Allegory
Angels
An Observer of Incidentality
Sanity
Round
Chickens
Nice
The Encounter
The Bath
The Night Invaded
The Method
The Reality Argument
The Theory
The Twilight of the Gods
Thus Spake Polly
The Rule and Its Exception
Wings
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
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Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001 Paper: 978-0-8229-5763-8 eISBN: 978-0-8229-7981-4
This is the first book in the Pitt Poetry Series by this popular and enigmatic poet, considered the foremost writer of prose poetry in America. In eleven collections over thirty years, Edson has created his own poetic genre, a surreal philosophical fable, easy to enter, but difficult to leave behind. In The Tormented Mirror, Edson continues and refines his form in seventy-three new poems.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Russell Edson is a playwright, novelist, and poet. He is the author of numerous poetry collections, including The Tormented Mirror, The Reason Why the Closet-Man is Never Sad, The Wounded Breakfast: Ten Poems, and The Tunnel: Selected Poems.
REVIEWS
“It is not surprising to discover . . . that Edson is an artist as well as a poet. His treatment of language is essentially plastic, verging at time on the cubistic.” --Poetry Magazine
“Edson is the undisputed master of the prose poem. . . . though his poems are nearly always accessible, dealing with the commonplace and commonness of life, they do so in highly uncommon ways, and our assumptions are continually being put topsy-turvy.” --Choice
“His prose poems are brief glimpses into a visionary world with haunting analogies to our own. The tone ranges from weird humor through the poignant and melancholy to the genuinely scary. The images are hard and clear.” --Library Journal
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
1
The Haunted House
The Secret Graveyard
A Letter From Home
Characters
An Old Woman’s Children
Genital Secrets
Monkey Achievement
That . . .
Sweet Tooth
The Babies
The Flowerpot
The Glandular Condition
The Key
The Laws
The New Father
The Position
The Sleeper’s Dark
The Tormented Mirror
Where Charity Begins
2
The Antiques Shop
Accidents
Baby Pianos
Balls
Madam’s Heart
Meanwhile . . .
Pork Chops
Sleep
The Academic Sigh
A Redundancy of Horses
The Alfresco Moment
The Bloodworthy Correspondence
The Breast
The Clock
The Horse of Fashion
Sunset
Urinating
On the Writing of a Prose Poem
3
Poetry
Bread
Feathers
Medical Stew
Nocturne
One Who Bathes in Moonlight
Symmetry
The Fruit Bowl
The Joy Attendant on the Little Journey
The Message
The Passion
The Rabbit Story
Night Song
The Square Wheel
The Stuff of Dreams
The Traveling Circus
The Veterinarian
Under Great Light Flooded Clouds
4
The Grinding
Allegory
Angels
An Observer of Incidentality
Sanity
Round
Chickens
Nice
The Encounter
The Bath
The Night Invaded
The Method
The Reality Argument
The Theory
The Twilight of the Gods
Thus Spake Polly
The Rule and Its Exception
Wings
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE