
An Individual History
Poems
Michael Collier(Author)
WW Norton & Co (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 22. August 2012
Book
Hardback
80 pages
978-0-393-08249-4 (ISBN)
Description
An Individual History describes the fears, anger, and guilt-personal, familial, societal, political, and historical-that comprise a life. The figure of the speaker's maternal grandmother who was institutionalized for five decades serves as an overriding metaphor for this haunting, bold new work by an essential American poet.
from "An Individual History"
This was before the time of lithium and Zoloft
before mood stabilizers and anxiolytics
and almost all the psychotropic drugs, but not before
thorazine,
which the suicide O'Laughlin called "handcuffs for the
mind."
It was before, during, and after the time of atomic
fallout,
Auschwitz, the Nakba, DDT, and you could take water
cures,
find solace in quarantines, participate in shunnings,
or stand at Lourdes among the canes and crutches.
from "An Individual History"
This was before the time of lithium and Zoloft
before mood stabilizers and anxiolytics
and almost all the psychotropic drugs, but not before
thorazine,
which the suicide O'Laughlin called "handcuffs for the
mind."
It was before, during, and after the time of atomic
fallout,
Auschwitz, the Nakba, DDT, and you could take water
cures,
find solace in quarantines, participate in shunnings,
or stand at Lourdes among the canes and crutches.
Reviews / Votes
"Collier's sixth collection engages with childhood, fatherhood, and family life, in the living present and memorial past, a history explored with brilliantly precise detail and originality of perspective." -- Publishers Weekly "Though the wide-ranging content of these highly personal poems may seem catch-as-catch-can, it's clear that for the poet they are hard-won fragments in the effort to assemble a coherent sense of selfhood, a quest many readers will recognize." -- Library JournalMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 211 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
227 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-393-08249-4 (9780393082494)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2012
W. W. Norton & Company
€13.49
Available for download
Person
Michael Collier is a former director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conferences and professor emeritus of English, University of Maryland. He lives in Maryland.