A song of the human spirit responding to beauty and adversity, Grace is an epic poem for America at the millennium.Grace is the master song, the last telling of Ibn Opcit, a Caribbean poet condemned to die by torture. In a series of jailhouse monologues, we hear him comment wryly on justice, on creation, on death, and on life after death: One little theory or theorylette hold dat de long oblong of de grave is not a place of cold and silence. It be a place of popcorn and comfort. De saved get to see first runs. De lost ...
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A song of the human spirit responding to beauty and adversity, Grace is an epic poem for America at the millennium.Grace is the master song, the last telling of Ibn Opcit, a Caribbean poet condemned to die by torture. In a series of jailhouse monologues, we hear him comment wryly on justice, on creation, on death, and on life after death: One little theory or theorylette hold dat de long oblong of de grave is not a place of cold and silence. It be a place of popcorn and comfort. De saved get to see first runs. De lost must watch Ishtar for eternity. In Grace, not only does John Barr handle the demanding form of the long poem with skill and panache, but he delivers a one-of-a-kind linguistic tour de force. Spoken mostly in a Caribbean dialect and rollicking with word play, Grace achieves a riotous level of verbal inventiveness. I don't know any other work with which to compare it unless we think of it as a kind of funky Finnegan's Wake in verse with palm trees. You have never read anything quite like this wildly sustained imaginative drama. Set those one-page lyrics aside and dive into this momentous feat.-Billy Collins, author of Picnic, Lightning John Barr's Grace is an incredibly risky poem about white American consciousness in the instant of attempting sympathy with black American (in this case Caribbean) consciousness. This cross-cultural ambition couldn't be any more vertiginous, but that doesn't mean that it's not crucial for the regional literature. Barr's courage and zeal for the project are astonishing, and his ambition should be the wonder of writers and readers north and south of the Panama Canal.-Rick Moody, author of The IceStormJohn Barr has pursued parallel careers as poet and investment banker for the past 25 years. He has founded the country's largest natural gas marketing company and a prominent investment-banking boutique. He is President Emeritus of the Poetry Society of America, and Chairman of the Board of Bennington College. Story Line Press published the trade edition of his first book, The Hundred Fathom Curve, in 1997. He lives with his wife and three children in Westchester Co
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Add this copy of Grace: Book One of the Adventures of Ibn Opcit to cart. $3.75, new condition, Sold by Poquette's Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dewitt, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Red Hen Press.
Add this copy of Grace: Book One of the Adventures of Ibn Opcit (the to cart. $3.75, very good condition, Sold by Michael Knight, Bookseller rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Forest Grove, OR, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Red Hen Press.
Add this copy of Grace: an Epic Poem to cart. $5.00, like new condition, Sold by Murphy-Brookfield Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Iowa City, IA, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Story Line Pr.
Add this copy of Grace to cart. $5.00, very good condition, Sold by A Book Store of Hastings rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from HASTINGS, MN, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Story Line Press.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 160 p. Audience: General/trade. VERY NICE COPY--TEXT CLEAN AND TIGHT--VERY SLIGHT SHELF WARE--AS NEW--GIFT--STILL HAS LOTS OF GREAT READS LEFT
Add this copy of Grace to cart. $6.50, very good condition, Sold by The Book Junction rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Shippensburg, PA, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Story Line Press.
Add this copy of Grace: Book One of the Adventures of Ibn Opcit to cart. $6.92, good condition, Sold by Midtown Scholar Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Harrisburg, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Red Hen Press.
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Seller's Description:
Good-Bumped and creased book with tears to the extremities, but not affecting the text block, may have remainder mark or previous owner's name-GOOD PAPERBACK Standard-sized.
Add this copy of Grace to cart. $8.00, very good condition, Sold by BookHouse On-Line rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Minneapolis, MN, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Story Line Press.
Add this copy of Grace: an Epic Poem to cart. $20.00, like new condition, Sold by Grendel Books, ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Springfield, MA, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Story Line Press.
Add this copy of Grace to cart. $25.00, like new condition, Sold by Between the Covers-Rare Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester City, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Story Line Press.
Add this copy of Grace: an Epic Poem to cart. $25.00, very good condition, Sold by Kenneth Mallory, ABAA rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Decatur, GA, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Story Line Press.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Hardcover. First Edition, Very good hardback in a jacket that is a bit sunned on the spine. Inscribed by Barr to the poet Thomas Lux on the half title page.
