Saving Lives: Poems

By Albert Goldbarth

Book Overview

Albert Goldbarth "just may be the American poet of his generation for the ages," says Judith Kitchen in a recent feature on him in the Georgia Review. "Often humorous but always serious, Goldbarth combines erudite research, pop-culture fanaticism, and personal anecdote in ways that make his writings among the most stylisti-cally recognizable in the literary world." This new volume, Saving Lives, both consolidates and extends his passions and their presentations. The poems range from a few tight, resonant lines to works of long story-telling drive, from sequences that encompass the most flexible of free verse to an homage to the sestina. Some center on familiar cultural icons (Rembrandt, Houdini, Barnum, the Hardy Boys), others on little-known fringe players in subculture's oddest unlit corners, and yet others on family histories. But always they examine an essential subject: the ways we try to "save lives"--whether through a trans-planted lung, the archeological rem-nant, the conserved book. As ever, Goldbarth dazzles, displaying an energetic mind eager to share his arcane learning, oddball musings, and observations of intimate moments, joys, and despairs. A zany wit and a generous sense of humanity reign equally. Saving Lives only enhances this writer's grand signature tradition.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814250734
• ISBN13: 9780814250730
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: Ohio State University Press
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 4.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Goldbarth Does it Again!

Simply put, this is a wonderful book, a great addition to any library and a must for any reader interested in Goldbarth's work and his impact on contemporary poetry.

The Life This Book Saves May Be Your Own

Albert Goldbarth proves once again that he is one of the undersung masters of American poetry.Saving Lives is easily his best poetry collection since Heaven and Earth: A Cosmology which came out nearly ten years ago. With the opening poem "Library" and through middle ground such as "Her Literal One," Goldbarth weaves a spell of love, magic, and humor. If you've never before dipped into Goldbarth's work, Saving Lives is a great place to start. Though the poet is probably best known for his longer narrative poems and his love of the planets and stars, both become muted here: these are shorter poems than what readers might be used to though their length compromises none of the typical Goldbarthian fire. And while Goldbarth hasn't abandoned his love of hard science and sci fi and all things in between, the poems in this volume stay mostly rooted on earth, focusing on what keeps the human heart beating.