"Selected Poems" includes over 200 works culled from Robert Lowell's books of verse--"Lord Weary's Castle," "The Mills of the Kavanaughs," "Life Studies," "For the Union Dead," "Near the Ocean," "History," "For Lizzie and Harriet," and "The Dolphin." Edited and with a foreword by the poet Frank Bidart, who also edited Collected Poems of Robert Lowell, this volume is a perfectly chosen representation of "the greatest American poet of the mid-century" (Richard Poirier, "Book Week"). Robert Lowell (1917-77) was the renowned and controversial author of many books of poetry, including "For the Union Dead "(1964) and "Life Studies "(1959), both published by FSG, which also published his "Collected" "Poems "in 2003. "Selected Poems" includes over two hundred works culled from Robert Lowell's books of verse--"Lord Weary's Castle," "The Mills of the Kavanaughs," "Life Studies," "For the Union Dead," "Near the Ocean," "History," "For Lizzie and Harriet," and "The Dolphin." Edited and with a foreword by the poet Frank Bidart, who also edited "Collected Poems of Robert Lowell," this revised and expanded edition is a chosen representation of "the greatest American poet of the mid-century" (Richard Poirier, "Book Week"). Edited and with a foreword by the poet Frank Bidart, this revised and expanded edition of over two hundred works culled from Lowell's book of verse is a chosen representation of "the greatest American poet of the mid-century" (Richard Poirier, "Book Week"). "The concise but passionate prose of Frank Bidart's brief introductory essay argues that Lowell is more than the upper-crust Yankee his cultural references can make him seem to be. Lowell's confessional frankness and personal subject matter don't merely make a self-serving self-portrait; as Bidart writes, 'Robert Lowell was a transgressive artist--his art again and again broke taboos, both thematic and formal. If what you're looking for from your poetry is redemption and honesty in a distinctively American key, you won't find it in denser form anywhere else, Lowell asks elemental questions about memory, family, America and art, and his intimacy distills a compassion for all."--Katie Peterson, "Chicago Tribune" ""Selected Poems" has] resuscitated conversation about one of the most stylish and ambitious poets of the 20th century. The features that make Lowell exciting to read--technical brilliance, as well as the instinct to deviate from it; a persuasive, public, rhetorical voice; dark interiority--are all on display in "Selected Poems." What is also here, which Lowell excluded from the earlier "Selected," is '91 Revere Street, ' a remarkable prose memoir that demonstrates just how clear he was capable of being about his life."--"Los Angeles Times" ""Selected Poems" demonstrates with unequivocal clarity that Robert Lowell's poems, not the least bit dated, remain as stunning and impressive now as they seemed back then, when they took American poetry by storm six decades ago."--Steve Kowit, "The San Diego Union-Tribune" "This selection--a much-expanded version by Bidart of Lowell's own late-life culling--brings the Herculean effort of restoring Lowell's oeuvre to print and prominence near completion. Next to the colossal "Collected Poems," this is a formidable book in its own right, offering a distilled view of the arc of Lowell's whole career and of each of his individual books. From the early formal triumphs of "Lord Weary's Castle" and "The Mills of the Kavanaughs" to the seminal "Life Studies" (which is presented here in its entirety and includes what may be Lowell's most overarching characterization of his work: 'I myself am hell'); from the tense and arguably unscrupulous sonnets of "History" and "For Lizzie and Harriet" to the dark resolve of "The Dolphin "and "Day by Day": all of Lowell's varied modes are generously represented, along with Bidart's notes from "Collected Poems." This book finally makes the breadth of Lowell's great achievement accessible in a single, portable volume."--"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)
Industry Reviews
" By far the most famous poet of his era . . . Lowell transformed American poetry." -- Charles McGrath, "The New York Times Magazine" " Robert Lowell was one of the three or four greatest American poets of the twentieth century . . . his real peers are the classics of American literature: Melville and Whitman, Eliot and Frost . . . Lowell's torrential eloquence, his historical consciousness, his moral and political seriousness are a standing challenge." -- Adam Kirsch, "The Times Literary Supplement" " Lowell's genius and his grinding labor brought to verse in English not only technical mastery on a scale otherwise scarcely attempted in [the twentieth] century, but then his courage and honesty brought ... a new generosity and dignity to the whole enterprise of poetry." -- John Thompson, "The ""New York"" Review of Books" " The best American poet of his generation." -- "Time" " The subjects of these poems will eventually become extinct, like all other natural species devoured by time, but the indelible mark of their impression on a single sensibility will remain, in Lowell's votive sculpture, bronzed to imperishability." -- Helen Vendler, "The Atlantic Monthly" "By far the most famous poet of his era . . . Lowell transformed American poetry." --Charles McGrath, The New York Times Magazine
"Robert Lowell was one of the three or four greatest American poets of the twentieth century . . . his real peers are the classics of American literature: Melville and Whitman, Eliot and Frost . . . Lowell's torrential eloquence, his historical consciousness, his moral and political seriousness are a standing challenge." --Adam Kirsch, The Times Literary Supplement
"Lowell's genius and his grinding labor brought to verse in English not only technical mastery on a scale otherwise scarcely attempted in [the twentieth] century, but then his courage and honesty brought ... a new generosity and dignity to the whole enterprise of poetry." --John Thompson, The New York Review of Books
"The best American poet of his generation." --Time
"The subjects of these poems will eventually become extinct, like all other natural species devoured by time, but the indelible mark of their impression on a single sensibility will remain, in Lowell's votive sculpture, bronzed to imperishability." --Helen Vendler, The Atlantic Monthly By far the most famous poet of his era . . . Lowell transformed American poetry. "Charles McGrath, The New York Times Magazine"
Robert Lowell was one of the three or four greatest American poets of the twentieth century . . . his real peers are the classics of American literature: Melville and Whitman, Eliot and Frost . . . Lowell's torrential eloquence, his historical consciousness, his moral and political seriousness are a standing challenge. "Adam Kirsch, The Times Literary Supplement"
Lowell's genius and his grinding labor brought to verse in English not only technical mastery on a scale otherwise scarcely attempted in [the twentieth] century, but then his courage and honesty brought ... a new generosity and dignity to the whole enterprise of poetry. "John Thompson, The New York Review of Books"
The best American poet of his generation. "Time"
The subjects of these poems will eventually become extinct, like all other natural species devoured by time, but the indelible mark of their impression on a single sensibility will remain, in Lowell's votive sculpture, bronzed to imperishability. "Helen Vendler, The Atlantic Monthly"" "By far the most famous poet of his era . . . Lowell transformed American poetry." --Charles McGrath, "The New York Times Magazine"
"Robert Lowell was one of the three or four greatest American poets of the twentieth century . . . his real peers are the classics of American literature: Melville and Whitman, Eliot and Frost . . . Lowell's torrential eloquence, his historical consciousness, his moral and political seriousness are a standing challenge." --Adam Kirsch, "The Times Literary Supplement"
"Lowell's genius and his grinding labor brought to verse in English not only technical mastery on a scale otherwise scarcely attempted in [the twentieth] century, but then his courage and honesty brought ... a new generosity and dignity to the whole enterprise of poetry." --John Thompson, "The ""New York"" Review of Books"
"The best American poet of his generation." --"Time"
"The subjects of these poems will eventually become extinct, like all other natural species devoured by time, but the indelible mark of their impression on a single sensibility will remain, in Lowell's votive sculpture, bronzed to imperishability." --Helen Vendler, "The Atlantic Monthly"
