Review by Booklist Review
Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for her poetry, Oliver also writes exquisitely lucid prose. Here, in her most generously personal essays to date, she articulates the beliefs, observations, and inspirations that feed her poetry as she contemplates the majestic beauty of the earth and its splendid creatures, including humankind. Oliver ponders death and remembrance, marvels over the unexpected boon of an old town dump, considers the indelible impression left by childhood revelations of the power and mystery of nature, and reveals her literary legacy in a set of sterling tributes to Wordsworth, Emerson, and Hawthorne. And, finally, this essential American poet literally brings it all home in a radiant reflection on the crucial "connection between soul and landscape." --Donna Seaman Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"I would rather write poems than prose, any day, any place" writes Mary Oliver, "Yet each has its own force." Her Long Life: Essays and Other Writings intersperses a few verses among prose pieces as various as "Dog Talk," "Emerson: An Introduction" and "Where I Live." As "Sand Dabs, Nine" puts it, "The energy of attempt is greater than the surety of stasis." (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Oliver is best known for her collections of poetry (e.g., The Leaf and the Cloud). She is also the author of A Poetry Handbook, one of the quintessential tools of encouragement, advice, and direction for the budding poet. In this arresting anthology of 17 essays and ten poems, similar in style to Sarah Orne Jewett's The Country of the Pointed Firs, Oliver takes her time word painting charmingly simple yet deeply enduring pictures of interactions among women and men, animals, and nature. She appears to etch each line with ease, which is the stamp of the professional, pointing out that prose is the softened, fleshy story, while poetry remains the stark revelation in writing. Each word touches the next, forming a virtual symphony of visuals. Daily tasks become touching rituals that define who we are, while the mundane is made sparkling, sometimes sharp, and even shattering yet never dull or lost owing to repetition. Recommended for large public and academic poetry and literary collections. Kim Harris, Rochester P.L., NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
