Univ. of Virginia professor, Pulitzer winner, and former Poet
Laureate, Dove has reaped great rewards for verse, such as this
seventh collection, which is really quite modest in design and
accomplishment. Always genial and accessible, Dove's economical,
never-erring poems have the same homey charms and family wisdom of
Zora Neale Hurston's fiction: "Cameos" is a verse collage that
bears "witness" to a time and place: the '20s and '30s in Ohio,
where a boy grows up among a lot of doting sisters, never bonds
with his "clowning" father, and prefers science to music. There's
more than a touch of inspiration and uplift (but no Maya Angelou
smarminess) in Dove's affirmative poems: two celebrate her young
self as a reader of"the stuff we humans are made of." "Dawn
Revisited" marvels at the promise of a new day and a second chance.
The poet is uncomfortable with repose ("Against Repose") and
refuses to give in to self-pity in front of her daughter ("Against
Self-Pity"). She's proud of her dignified mother, working as a
seamstress to finance business school; and admires the old lady in
"Gotterdammerung," who, despite aches and pains, will not give up
on adventure, travel, and her own sexuality. A public poet as well,
Dove pays homage to the Capitol building ("Lady Freedom Among Us")
and, in the title sequence, with indirection and context, narrates
the saga of Rosa Parks and a few less-famous bus-riding women in
the Jim Crow South for whom, as Dove so eloquently puts it, "Doing
nothing was the doing." Dove extols the "life force" in chants
clear and democratic. (Kirkus Reviews)
In these brilliant poems, Rita Dove treats us to a panoply of human
endeavor, shot through with the electrifying jazz of her lyric
elegance. From the opening sequence, "Cameos," to the civil rights
struggle of the final sequence, she explores the intersection of
individual fate and history.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(1)
(1)
