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September 1, 1939 - by  Ian Sansom (Paperback) - 1 of 1

September 1, 1939 - by Ian Sansom (Paperback)

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Highlights

  • One poet, his poem, New York City, and a world on the verge of change.W.
  • Author(s): Ian Sansom
  • 352 Pages
  • Biography & Autobiography, Literary Figures

Description



Book Synopsis



One poet, his poem, New York City, and a world on the verge of change.

W. H. Auden, a wunderkind, a victim-beneficiary of a literary cult of personality, became a scapegoat and a poet-expatriate largely excluded from British literary history because he left. And his poem, "September 1, 1939," was his most famous and celebrated, yet one which he tried to rewrite and disown and which has enjoyed--or been condemned--to a tragic and unexpected afterlife.

These are the contributing forces underlying Ian Sansom's work excavating the man and his most celebrated piece of literature. But Sansom's book is also about New York City: an island, an emblem of the Future, magnificent, provisional, seamy, and in 1939--about to emerge as the defining twentieth-century cosmopolis, the capital of the world.

And so it is also about a world at a point of change--about 1939, and about our own Age of Anxiety, about the aftermath of September 11, when many American newspapers reprinted Auden's poem in its entirety on their editorial pages.

More than a work of literary criticism or literary biography, this is a record of why and how we create and respond to great poetry.


In this deeply personal and brilliantly funny exploration, Ian Sansom unpacks the life of a single poem:


  • A Biography of a Poem: Follow the strange journey of Auden's most famous work--from its creation on the eve of war to the poet's own attempts to erase it from history.
  • New York City on the Brink: Explore the bars, streets, and anxieties of Manhattan in 1939, a city about to become the capital of the twentieth century.
  • A Writer's Obsession: Dive into author Ian Sansom's own witty, self-deprecating, and decades-long struggle to understand one of modern literature's most enduring and controversial poems.
  • From 1939 to 9/11: Discover how a poem about the start of World War II found a tragic new resonance in the twenty-first century, becoming a talisman for a new generation grappling with crisis.



Review Quotes




"Poetry lovers and readers intrigued by Auden and his considerable influence will have a rollicking time with this entertaining yet earnest tome." - Booklist (starred review)

"September 1, 1939, the book, is a deeply informed and unapologetically digressive dive into Auden's life, as well as into the life of this singular poem. Along the way, we readers hear a good deal of nattering about Sansom's own life: how, for instance, his sister in Australia thinks he should buy a barbecue grill, or how he, unlike Auden, lasted only two weeks on a misbegotten pilgrimage to New York City. Sansom says of Auden, the poet, that he's 'a terrible fidget. It's what makes [his] poems entertaining, and infuriating.' Much the same can be said of Sansom, the fidgety critic." - Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air

"[Sansom's] richly entertaining book explores what goes on in the poem and why it has had such an impact." - The Guardian


Dimensions (Overall): 7.9 Inches (H) x 5.2 Inches (W) x 1.0 Inches (D)
Weight: .5 Pounds
Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up
Number of Pages: 352
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
Sub-Genre: Literary Figures
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Format: Paperback
Author: Ian Sansom
Language: English
Street Date: September 1, 2020
TCIN: 91180652
UPC: 9780062984609
Item Number (DPCI): 247-51-3566
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
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Shipping details

Estimated ship dimensions: 1 inches length x 5.2 inches width x 7.9 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 0.5 pounds
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