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by: Thomas Lux
Amazon.com's Price: $15.00 Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 811
EAN: 9780395924884
ISBN: 039592488X
Label: Mariner Books
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 192
Publication Date: February 17, 1999
Publisher: Mariner Books
Sales Rank: 598581
Studio: Mariner Books
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Writing in the Georgia Review, Peter Stitt described Thomas Lux's writing as a 'mingling of humor and sincerity,' capable of both 'ferocious anger and deep tenderness.' These seemingly irreconcilable traits marry in Lux's best poems, which you'll find in this collection. Consider, for instance, 'Travelling Exhibit of Torture Instruments.' Lux is overcome by a wave of reactions to the instruments: he is awed by their genius, their effectiveness; he is obviously bitter about the depths of human cruelty; he is darkly amused by the absurdity of it all; he is bone-crushingly tired and sad at the seeming futility of life. The ending of the poem might contain any, or all of these reactions: 'It seems most times men did this or that, / so terrible to him or her, / it was because God willed it so. / Or, at least, they thought He did.' Lux is eclectic and brilliant, with a sharp mind and a good ear.
Product Description:
One of the New York Public Library's 25 'Books to Remember' in 1997 Lux comments on the absurd, the pathetic, and the commonplace in our culture, writing with compassion as well as satire. He is 'singular among his peers in his ability to convey with a deceptive lightness the paradoxes of human emotion,' says Publishers Weekly, and Robert Hass, in the Washington Post Book World, takes special note of Lux's 'bitter wit, the kind of irony that comes with a quick, impatient intelligence.'
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - an unsung master
Every poet, published and journal-scratching, can learn something from Lux. The funny thing is, I don't think he poses himself to be the epitome of American poetry. This is solid, amazing work. He should be read in the schools. He should be read at the beginning of every hockey game. This book should be owned by you.
Rating: - Watching a poet grow and mature...
Reading this collection one gets a sense of how Lux has changed over the years and how those changes have affected his poetry. His keen sense of focus, his delight in learning something in a poem, the playful titles... all remain, but the polish, the craftmanship gets better and better. Thomas in print, Tom when you meet him and hear him read - you will laugh at his reading, picking up lines you missed yourself... Try starting with his poem "The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently" and ... Read More
Rating: - Rage and Rapture- the Poetry of Thomas Lux
Tom Lux is the best-kept secret in American Poetry.
Has reading poetry ever poetry frustrated you? Were you taught poetry is some kind of impressive sounding puzzle only a specialist could understand? Well, you must read "New and Selected Poems 1975-1995", because these poems will confound your experience with boring, academic or overly allusive verse. To "get" these poems, you won't need an overpaid theorist to explain them to you, all you need is your ... Read More
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