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from: Scribner
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 811.54
EAN: 9780684822792
ISBN: 0684822792
Label: Scribner
Manufacturer: Scribner
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 96
Publication Date: February 05, 1996
Publisher: Scribner
Sales Rank: 2763143
Studio: Scribner
Editorial Review:
Book Description:
David Lehman's poetry has been praised in the New York Times Book Review as 'elegant, exuberant, witty, lyrical, and technically sophisticated.' With Valentine Place, Lehman, the series editor of the acclaimed Best American Poetry, now offers a brilliant new collection: an unflinching look at romantic and erotic love.
Valentine Place is a dark valentine. But these forty-three poems are not only about desire, marriage, betrayal, and divorce, they're about the whole gamut of emotions surrounding the pursuit of happiness. Keenly felt, Lehman's work is never merely confessional. He uses a variety of techniques here, and the narrative that emerges is mysterious and provocative -- a love affair as seen through a Cubist prism. Lehman writes with candor, at times with high humor, and frequently with a cinematic eye trained by Hollywood and hard-boiled detective novels. From 'First Lines' to 'Last Words,' from 'The Secret Life' to 'Young Death,' Valentine Place reveals a talent that is daring and original.
A story of love, loss, and what comes after, Valentine Place traces the winding path from illusion to disenchantment to enlightenment.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Lehmanism
David Lehman runs a reading series, writes criticism, and edits anthologies, but what he does best is write poems, and Valentine Place is a brilliant collection of some of his best work. Lehman's poems are funny, moving, and full of drama. He is a master of many forms, yet the work itself never seems formal or stilted. Read "Wedding Song," the villanelle that opens the book ("Poetry is a criticism of life/As a jailbreak is a criticism of prison"), to sample what the book has to offer. "A Little ... Read More
Rating: - valetine place
"Sometimes what you thought was an interruption/Turns out to be your life./And sometimes what you thought was your life/Turns out to have been an interruption./and yet you have to act/As if you were back in the fourth grade/And knew the right answer was Pittsburgh/But put down Bethlehem just to see what would happen-/How it would be feel to be wrong."
One reviewer termed the lines facile. They saved my life.
Rating: - The best collection of thoughts and feelings on love.
Without question, the depth of emotion revealed and examined by this poet is remarkable. I laughed and cried with recognition. The book drew the feelings out of me. I felt the poet's joy pain misery and glorious resolutions and made them my own. No better choice for the lovestruck or lovelorn in this reviewer's opinion. Get it today.
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