Ants on the Melon: A Collection of Poems

By Virginia Adair

Book Overview

" Virginia Adair speaks directly and unaffectedly, in an accent stripped of mannerism and allusion. Ants on the Melon exhibits enough formal variety, freshness, and intelligence to confirm, at one stroke, that Ms. Adair is a poet of accomplishment and originality." --Brad Leithauser, The New York Times Book Review " Extraordinarily moving. Her voice is clear, assured, varied, and utterly her own." --A. Alvarez, The New York Review of Books " The rhyme is ingenious, the humor saucy and unsparing, and the author clearly takes a delight in perversity, in an inversion of the expected." --Alice Quinn, The New Yorker " How bright and unmuddled and unaffected and unswerving these poems are. There's such aplomb, no faking, such a true hard edge. They never miss." --Alice Munro " Adair writes with a thinking heart's and a feeling mind's unusual clarity. Here is a sensual, wise, precise, amazing voice." --Sharon Olds Virginia Hamilton Adair is America's most widely read and respected serious poet. Ants on the Melon has already become a landmark in the nation's literary history, and the advent of this paperback edition guarantees that her great gifts will be recognized and appreciated by an even larger audience.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375752293
• ISBN13: 9780375752292
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.9" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Treasure

I bought this book when it was released and it became immediately a favorite. Mrs. Adair's clear voice and evocative prose pleases again and again. Great, accessible, "modern" poetry---what a pleasure! Highly recommended.

A lovely read

Ms. Adair was a mentor of mine some years ago. I like her work so much and find her poems to be like magic boxes: one opens them and finds treasures. Brava, Virginia Adair!

Good earthy, practical poetry

I'm a literary dilletante and I admit it. I picked up this book because of its swell cover and title.Upon skimming it in the bookstore, I was hooked. Poems about life, without sappy metaphor or tricky construction. Good earthy, practical poetry. Such breadth of matter, such depth of understanding. I felt that I'd met a poet of substance. Let's leave it at this, Adair nudged me into reading more poetry, more often.

If Emily had a daughter....

It's always unfair to compare one writer to another, but if you love Emily Dickinson, then Adair's book is for you. Succinct, masterful use of the language. I loved this collection. Buy it!

DISCOVER A MARVELOUS POET

One of the best books of poetry I've read in years, and I go through hundreds of them to find the good ones. What a discovery! She is simply marvelous! Charles Sullivan