Lightning Falls in Love - by Laura Kasischke (Paperback)

About the Book

"In her stunning twelfth poetry collection, Lightning Falls in Love, Laura Kasischke makes magic with a complex alchemy of nostalgia and fire, birdwing and sorrow. In new poems that search the murky lake for news of the past, she evokes unsayable trauma and gleans possibility. This is poetry that is existential in scope but grounded in the body, surreal yet suburban, reaching for clarity just beyond the fog of the day-to-day. Kasischke has found an entirely new way to spin beauty and pull breath from that which must be dredged up and revived before it can be left behind"--

Book Synopsis

Starred Review in Publishers Weekly: "Magic and survival are at the center of Kasischke's marvelous 12th poetry collection... This book is a triumph of storytelling by a master of craft."

In her stunning twelfth poetry collection, Lightning Falls in Love, Laura Kasischke makes magic with a complex alchemy of nostalgia and fire, birdwing and sorrow. In new poems that search the murky lake for news of the past, she evokes unsayable trauma and gleans possibility. This is poetry that is existential in scope but grounded in the body, surreal yet suburban, reaching for clarity just beyond the fog of the day-to-day. Kasischke has found an entirely new way to spin beauty and pull breath from that which must be dredged up and revived before it can be left behind.

Review Quotes

"For Kasischke and for Glück both, poetry is a kind of revenge on the existential limits that it describes"--Stephanie Burt, Los Angeles Review of Books

"Maybe it doesn't take a visionary to merge a funeral with Deep Purple, or to combine realism with myth, but this poet is deeply smart in a way that isn't often articulated in the world and her fusions and images can add up to revelation." --The Brooklyn Rail

"This is a collection of masterful poems that are honest about the experience of being a person while posing urgent philosophical questions and answering them through the act of art that chimes and throws sparks." --Jennifer Michael Hecht, American Poets

"Kasischke's latest collection, tight with her distinguishing concision and strong lyricism, continues to invent and explore new terrains." --Ploughshares

"Kasischke astonishes with her lyricism and metaphorical power." --Publishers Weekly

"Kasischke's poems are powered by a skillful use of imagery and the subtle, ingenious way she turns a phrase."--Austin American-Statesman

"Every poem is exquisitely crafted, with crisp, clean lines and imagery that dazzles."-- The Washington Post

"Kasischke is an expert of perspectives. She exercises precise control over where to look, while reminding you that you are also being watched."--Rain Taxi

About the Author

Raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and currently living in Chelsea, Michigan with her family, Laura Kasischke has written eleven collections of poetry and seven novels, among them Space, in Chains, a National Book Critics Circle Award winner. She currently teaches at the University of Michigan.