From one of our most universally admired poets: a generous selection from his five acclaimed books of poetry, and an outstanding group of new poems. From the outset, Brad Leithauser has displayed a venturesome taste for quirky patterns, innovative designs sprung loose from traditional forms. In The Oldest Word for Dawn, we encounter a sonnet in one-syllable lines ("Post-Coitum Tristesse"), a clanging rhyme-mad tribute to the music of Tin Pan Alley ("A Good List"), intricate buried rhyme schemes ("In Minako Wada's House" ...
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From one of our most universally admired poets: a generous selection from his five acclaimed books of poetry, and an outstanding group of new poems. From the outset, Brad Leithauser has displayed a venturesome taste for quirky patterns, innovative designs sprung loose from traditional forms. In The Oldest Word for Dawn, we encounter a sonnet in one-syllable lines ("Post-Coitum Tristesse"), a clanging rhyme-mad tribute to the music of Tin Pan Alley ("A Good List"), intricate buried rhyme schemes ("In Minako Wada's House"), autobiography spun through parodies of Frost and Keats and Omar Khayy�m ("Two Summer Jobs"). In a new poem, "Earlier," the poet investigates a kind of paradox: What is the oldest word for dawn in any language? The pursuit ultimately descends into the roots of speech, the genesis of art. "Earlier" is part of a sequence devoted to prehistoric themes: the cave paintings of Altamira, the disappearance of the Neanderthals, the poet's journey with his teenage daughter to excavate a triceratops skeleton in Montana . . . The author of six novels as well, Leithauser not surprisingly brings to his verse a flair for compelling narrative: a fateful romantic encounter on a streetcar ("1944: Purple Heart"); the mesmerizing arrival of television in a quiet Detroit neighborhood ("Not Lunar Exactly"); two boys heedlessly, joyfully bidding permanent farewell to a beloved sister ("Emigrant's Story"). The Oldest Word for Dawn reveals Brad Leithauser as a poet of surpassing tenderness and exactitude, a poet whose work, at sixty, fulfills the promise noted by James Merrill on the publication of his first book: "The observations glisten, the feelings ring true. These poems by a young, unostentatious craftsman are made to something very like perfection. No one should overlook them."
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Add this copy of The Oldest Word for Dawn: New and Selected Poems to cart. $6.91, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Add this copy of The Oldest Word for Dawn: New and Selected Poems to cart. $8.50, very good condition, Sold by Half Price Books Inc rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Knopf.
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Add this copy of The Oldest Word for Dawn: New and Selected Poems to cart. $10.50, like new condition, Sold by Powell's Books Chicago rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chicago, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Knopf Publishing Group.
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Add this copy of The Oldest Word for Dawn: New and Selected Poems (First to cart. $35.00, like new condition, Sold by Dan Pope Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from WEST Hartford, CT, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
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As New in As New jacket. Cloth. First edition. First printing. Complete number line, including the 1. A fine book in a fine dust jacket. A tight copy, as new, appears unread, without any marks or defects. Dust jacket is clean and bright, with price intact on front flap. Comes with archival-quality dust jacket protector. Shipped in well padded box. Smoke-free. Although not marked as such in any way, this book came from the library of poet and literary critic J.D. McClatchy, from his estate in Stonington, Connecticut.
Add this copy of The Oldest Word for Dawn: New and Selected Poems to cart. $36.42, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Knopf.
Add this copy of The Oldest Word for Dawn: New and Selected Poems to cart. $48.50, new condition, Sold by Dan Pope Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from WEST Hartford, CT, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Knopf.
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New in New jacket. Signed by Author(s) New York: Knopf [2013]. First edition. First printing Hardbound. SIGNED BY AUTHOR on title page. New/New. A pristine unread copy, without defect, in archival-quality mylar dust jacket protector. Shipped in well padded box. Smoke-free. This book was purchased new and opened only for the author to sign. 0.0.
Add this copy of The Oldest Word for Dawn: New and Selected Poems to cart. $77.60, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Knopf.
Add this copy of The Oldest Word for Dawn: New and Selected Poems to cart. $82.24, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Knopf.
