Opus Posthumous and Other Poems - by David R Slavitt (Paperback)

About the Book

"As he prepares to enter his sixth decade of publishing poetry, David R. Slavitt, whose debut book of verse appeared in 1961, remains a determined wildcatter who ranges as far as he thinks necessary to drill for meaning, wherever and however he can get it. Traversing Africa, India, Israel, and the America in which he finds himself, Slavitt's new collection visits zoos, casinos, baseball fields, and cemeteries searching for clues from which he might learn at least a little. He translates verse from Yiddish and Provencal and offers commentaries on received wisdom, everyday events, and the vagaries of existence. With "Opus Posthumous"-the title is a joke, as he remains very much alive-Slavitt presents an august work possessed of a richness toward which he has worked throughout his long life. By turns wry, erudite, and dyspeptic, this new volume offers ample rewards of his maturity"--

Book Synopsis

As he enters his sixth decade of publishing poetry, David R. Slavitt remains a determined wildcatter who ranges as far as he thinks necessary to drill for meaning, wherever and however he can get it. In his new collection, Slavitt traverses Africa, India, Israel, and the America in which he finds himself, complete with visits to zoos, casinos, baseball fields, and cemeteries, as he searches for clues from which he might learn at least a little. He translates verse from Yiddish and Provençal and offers commentaries on received wisdom, everyday events, and the vagaries of existence.

With Opus Posthumous and Other Poems--the title is a joke, as he remains very much alive--Slavitt presents an august work possessed of a richness toward which he has worked throughout his long life. By turns wry, erudite, and dyspeptic, this new volume offers ample rewards of his maturity.

Review Quotes

[Previous praise] [Slavitt's] range in forms, tones of voice, and subject matter is wide and various. He shows that he can handle all kinds of tough, tricky forms, and that he likes forms. He is perfectly at home in many rhythms, formal and syncopated. The language is brilliant, the range almost complete (from Ronald Firbank to Lenny Bruce and Dave Gardner). He can be witty or can crack wise as the occasion demands. Above all, he can think in verse, thus inviting the reader to use his intelligence, too.-- "George Garrett in "The Hollins Critic""

[Previous praise] The power of narrative to transform the events it recounts is among the most rewarding mysteries by which we can be absorbed. David Slavitt is among the most accomplished living practitioners of that art, in both prose and verse; his poems give us a pleasurable, beautiful way of meditating on a bad time. We can't ask much more of literature, and usually we get far less.-- "Henry Taylor in "Compulsory Figures: Essays on Recent American Poets""

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

[Previous praise] Slavitt's imagination is equally at home breathing twentieth-century life into historical and classical figures and discovering the poetry of everyday activities.-- "Library Journal"

About the Author

David R. Slavitt has published more than 120 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.