[Andrew Frisardi]

Edward Hirsch has a new book of poetry, a book-length elegy for his son, who died in his early twenties. There’s this interview with him in which he talks about the experience behind the book and the book itself (scroll down for the video; I hope the link works this time).

Has anyone already read this? I’m looking forward to it.

[W.F. Lantry]

I haven't read it yet. The whole thing is very sad for Ed. I can't imagine going through something like that. Heart-wrenching.

[Catherine Chandler]

HERE is an article that discusses the writing of Hirsch's Gabriel. I believe the book is scheduled to be available sometime in September.

[Sharon Fish Mooney]

Here's another brief video

http://www.pw.org/content/american_poets_abroad

Hirsch discusses his two new books, Gabriel and A Poet's Glossary, in the September/October 2014 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine

info for his Glossary

http://www.amazon.com/A-Poets-Glossa...d_bxgy_b_img_y

[W.F. Lantry]

New, on this topic, in the Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/bo...ref=books&_r=0

[Maryann Corbett]

The library copy I put on hold finally became free a few weeks back, and I did get to read the poem. I think Emily Rapp's review is spot on. The absence of punctuation, the use of line breaks as syntactic suggestion, is often very crafty in the way it forces the reader to accept ambiguities and double meanings in the sentences. The diction is plain, but the narrative twists and turns are skillful and the emotions are strong. Very much worth reading.

[Andrew Frisardi]

Thanks, Bill and Maryann. The review was good and Maryann's testimony even better. I'm looking forward to reading this book.

The one thing in the review that bugged me, though, was this: The effect of reading the careful study of this loss in poetry instead of prose is distinct; the form suggests that such an experience is too fractured and senseless for narrative, . . .

It's a shame, in the wake of Vikram Seth, Dave Mason, and many others, that a critic can talk about "poetry" and "narrative" as mutually exclusive.

[Elise Hempel]

Andrew -- read the thread I posted under General Talk ("just wondering") about Hirsch's poem/book a while back. Some mixed feelings.