Death Benefits - by David R Slavitt (Paperback)

About the Book

"Death Benefits deepens and extends David R. Slavitt's sublime, lyric confrontation with mortality-and does so in a plainspoken and marvelously entertaining, conversational voice. His poetry encourages us to recognize our own predicaments, as we see ourselves reflected as fellow sufferers entrapped by daily circumstance. In his new collection, Slavitt presents a sequence of one hundred sonnets, each one loaded with life, observation, and quicksilver wit. Readers will delight in looking on with wonder, at every turn of the page, to see how the poet will pull it off this time; what kind of verbal magic he will use to fend off the mortal pain of getting through each day. His voice plays over the grid of the meter in utterly natural intonations. His music squarely faces the dark, but its enduring note is faith in common sense and the pleasure that poetry provides, rather than cynicism or despair"--

Book Synopsis

Death Benefits deepens and extends David R. Slavitt's sublime, lyric confrontation with mortality--and does so in a plainspoken and marvelously entertaining, conversational way. His poetry encourages us to recognize our own predicaments, as we see ourselves reflected as fellow sufferers entrapped by daily circumstance. In his new collection, Slavitt presents a sequence of one hundred sonnets, each one loaded with life, observation, and quicksilver wit. Readers will delight in looking on with wonder, at every turn of the page, to see how the poet will pull it off this time and what kind of linguistic magic he will use to fend off the mortal pain of getting through each day. His voice plays over the grid of the meter in utterly natural intonations. His music squarely faces the dark, but its enduring note is faith in common sense and the pleasure that poetry provides, rather than cynicism or despair.

Review Quotes

"A serious force in contemporary letters. . . . Witty, graceful, and accessible."--Virginia Quarterly Review

"Slavitt is a reassuring polymath; rather than making you anxious, he comforts you with his knowledge."--Hollins Critic

"Slavitt's touch is light, and he writes beautifully. . . . His satire is sharp and he can be wildly funny."--New York Times Book Review

About the Author

David R. Slavitt has published 130 books of poetry, fiction, and translation. Born in White Plains, New York, and educated at Andover, Yale, and Columbia, Slavitt has worked at Newsweek and taught at Temple University, Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Bennington College.