These Extremes - (Southern Messenger Poets) by Richard Bausch (Paperback)

About the Book

Many of the poems and prose in These Extremes focus on the author's family and relationships, ranging from a memorialization of his oldest sister, who died young; to prose memory pieces recalling his childhood and adolescence; to loving but unsentimental portraits of his father, mother, and other relatives. "Back Stories," the center of the book, effortlessly weaves poems around familiar characters from history, literature, movies, and popular culture -- ranging from Thomas Jefferson and Shakespeare's Falstaff to Sam, the piano player from "Casablanca." These Extremes will surprise and delight lovers of poetry and fans of Bausch's stories and novels.

Book Synopsis

In his first collection of poetry and prose, award-winning fiction writer Richard Bausch proves that he is also an accomplished poet. Penned over a span of many years, the poems in These Extremes deal with a wide variety of subjects. Many focus on Bausch's own family and relationships. In one long, touching poem, "Barbara (1943--1974)," the poet memorializes his oldest sister, who died young. He also offers two prose memory pieces, recollections from his childhood and adolescence. In these brief "essays," Bausch draws loving but unsentimental portraits of his father, mother, and other relatives as he reflects on the sense of belonging that he gained from his family -- something he hopes to pass on to his own children in this violent, chaotic world.
In "Back Stories," the center of the book, Bausch effortlessly weaves poems around familiar characters from history, literature, movies, and popular culture -- including Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare's Falstaff, Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Sam, the piano player from Casablanca. Decidedly accessible in form, theme, and expression, These Extremes will surprise and delight lovers of poetry and fans of Bausch's stories and novels.

About the Author

Richard Bausch is the author of many books of fiction, most recently the novels Peace and Thanksgiving Night, and Wives and Lovers: 3 Short Novels. His stories have appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, New Yorker, GQ, Playboy, Harper's, and in the anthologies Best American Short Stories, O. Henry Prize Stories, and Pushcart Prize Stories. Recipient of the Hillsdale Prize for Fiction from the Fellowship of Southern Writers and the PEN/Malamud Award, Bausch lives in Memphis, Tennessee.