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by: William Carlos Williams
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 811.52
EAN: 9780811212250
ISBN: 0811212254
Label: New Directions
Manufacturer: New Directions
Number Of Pages: 326
Publication Date: 1992-11
Publisher: New Directions
Sales Rank: 902165
Studio: New Directions
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - He stole it from me... every word.
Yeah. It's a damn fine book. Poetry or prose? who cares? Its the story of a man through the story of a town, a little rhythm, a little newspaper clipping, definately Modernist and definately good. I'm awful glad that WCW never turned into an Imagiste or a TV wrestling show. Let me put it this way, if you like: Faulkner, early Joyce, or the less obscure of Uncle Ez's poems, I think you'd find this piece of literature worth your while. If you want an all-American history story, ...sorry, I don't even ... Read More
Rating:  - Mystifying. I gave it an extra star because of it's impact on American Letters.
Over the years I have seen parts of this long poem anthologized and I finally felt I had the time and patience to read the whole work, which I have done.
I confess to being mystified. I thought about getting a commentary, then thought, "That's just playing into the hands of the 'commentary' industry--i.e. college professors who hold their jobs by praising works that cannot be comprehended except through their own efforts as professors and commentators." This is a harsh judgment, I realize, ... Read More
Rating:  - One of my favorite books of any kind.
Paterson is a book-length poem that tells you everything you need to know about America. If it appears complex and impenetrable then you need to put the thing down for a day or two, and then try again, because this is really a joy, there's nothing impenetrable about it! Read it when you really have some time to think and skip the commentary (by this I mean read it first without consulting literary criticism, I do not mean that you should ignore any part of the work itself). This poet will teach you that ... Read More
Rating:  - Probably not worth the effort
Even for a fan of WCW like myself, this is a tough one to read. Williams is still Williams, but not the Williams of the brevity of "This is just to say". Only die-hard fans should probably attempt this rambling modern epic. Excerpts of the good stuff are readily available, and I recommend them to fans of THE SELECTED POEMS. The closest thing I can compare PATERSON to, in terms of structure and method, is Ezra Pound's CANTOS: a collage of words, formidably difficult to understand, and also unfinished.
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Rating: - A Signature Work.
Williams's Paterson is a long poem. Williams originally intended the poem to be published In five separate books which it was between 1946 and 1958. The poem has been made availabe in one complete volume. In the poem Dr Williams compares his life to the flowing course of the Passaic River; especially its waterfalls. The poem is quite lengthly but well worth the read. I think that the poem Paterson is Williams's signature work. I also recommend Williams's Selected Essays & Selected Poems.
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