Slight Return
Will be published approx. on 1. December 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
116 pages
978-1-950268-65-8 (ISBN)
Description
In her new collection, renowned publisher and poet Rebecca Wolff voyages in the myopia of American consumer consciousness-erotic regard, spiritual FOMO, gentrification, branding-without destination.
Labyrinthine in their paradoxical musings and incisive in their witty recriminations, these poems grapple with the hubris and dysmorphia of the soul. Wolff is a poet that is unafraid to be a querent, not only of sages ("I only hang out with people / who are psychic / anything else is a / waste of precious / continuity") but of language itself ("How else is one to know how to proceed / How is one to make a motion against- / electric word life") In Slight Return, the journey is infinite and elusive-aspiring in the best way toward a point of diminishing returns and withholding any promise of a comfortable landing.
Labyrinthine in their paradoxical musings and incisive in their witty recriminations, these poems grapple with the hubris and dysmorphia of the soul. Wolff is a poet that is unafraid to be a querent, not only of sages ("I only hang out with people / who are psychic / anything else is a / waste of precious / continuity") but of language itself ("How else is one to know how to proceed / How is one to make a motion against- / electric word life") In Slight Return, the journey is infinite and elusive-aspiring in the best way toward a point of diminishing returns and withholding any promise of a comfortable landing.
Reviews / Votes
"[Wolff's poems] are stylistic and tonal shapeshifters. Hip, contemplative, and dark and resistant to the hunky-dory, the New Agey, and the prescriptive, they're unnerving, funny, and occasionally subversive."- Bookforum"Wolff's [poetry has] nervy, controlled lyric bursts....Nearing yet swerving from bathos, [she is a poet with] a gift for shrewd summings-up."-Chicago Tribune
"In a space where "It all happens so fast-/ ovulation, creation, cremation," a variety of poses, or figments, may seem all that is left. Wolff's poems manage to make embracing them seem like a genuine possibility."-Publishers Weekly
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Seattle
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
227 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-950268-65-8 (9781950268658)
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
Person
Rebecca Wolff is the author of five collections of poetry, one novel, and numerous pieces of occasional prose. Her first book, Manderley, was selected for the National Poetry Series by Robert Pinsky. Her second, Figment, was selected for the Barnard Women Poets Prize by Claudia Rankine and Eavan Boland. Her third, The King, was published by W. W. Norton in 2009. One Morning- was published by Wave Books in 2015. Slight Return is out from Wave Books in the fall of 2022. Her novel The Beginners was published by Riverhead in 2011. In 1998, Wolff founded the influential literary journal Fence; in 2001 she founded Fence Books and launched The Constant Critic website. Wolff lives in Hudson, New York, where she has served on the City Council and works in community development, with an emphasis on affordable housing and green trades training.
Content
Contents1
The character of something
experiment in voice and character #1
Experiment in Divination: Voice and Character
experiment in voice and character #3
Experiment in Voice and Character: "In the absence of general literacy
Experiment: Institutional Critique
The Narrative of Their Execution/The Execution of Their Narrative
2
On Sunday I Water the Plants
if I were more orderly
I am the _____________
Objective Reality Can Take Care of Itself
Like all my enthusiasms
Raga You Bet
The Big Pic is a Total Art Shot
Scales have fallen from my eyes
The Singing Revolution
The Lens of Porcelain
Slight Return
3
Corrective: A Companion
What's with the arid ground
context is everything
That's not how my imagination works
Austerity Rabbit Cage
Will you disassociate with me?
Political Animals
Halloween
The supernatural
4
rock heart
This was almost more excitement
This = This
There is Nothing Like a Good Shit
Up Close & Personal
Cheerful whistling of the kettle
Why do you inspire
Peak Experience
Okay, so
Minus the Supernatural
Reincarnations
Class Clown
I know what I'll do I'll pretend you're dead
I am always trying to amuse you
Yet another perfect example of how it's not all about me 64
5
Institutional Memory: check your head
Protecting my interests
In your recent campaign against me
An Insult to Biology
My Lawyer Said That I Should Call Her
I was, objectively, a happier person, when I was with you.
Visiting Friends
6
Shame on you for thinking people can't change
If I wanted something exquisite
Dear Jen
Why don't you go down to Florida and look for your daddy
How do you objectify the day
You are perfect for me
Was It Hubris
It's like kissing a dead man
Why I am not a Buddhist
Wizard of the Western World
Start A Book
Ant Life
The character of something
experiment in voice and character #1
Experiment in Divination: Voice and Character
experiment in voice and character #3
Experiment in Voice and Character: "In the absence of general literacy
Experiment: Institutional Critique
The Narrative of Their Execution/The Execution of Their Narrative
2
On Sunday I Water the Plants
if I were more orderly
I am the _____________
Objective Reality Can Take Care of Itself
Like all my enthusiasms
Raga You Bet
The Big Pic is a Total Art Shot
Scales have fallen from my eyes
The Singing Revolution
The Lens of Porcelain
Slight Return
3
Corrective: A Companion
What's with the arid ground
context is everything
That's not how my imagination works
Austerity Rabbit Cage
Will you disassociate with me?
Political Animals
Halloween
The supernatural
4
rock heart
This was almost more excitement
This = This
There is Nothing Like a Good Shit
Up Close & Personal
Cheerful whistling of the kettle
Why do you inspire
Peak Experience
Okay, so
Minus the Supernatural
Reincarnations
Class Clown
I know what I'll do I'll pretend you're dead
I am always trying to amuse you
Yet another perfect example of how it's not all about me 64
5
Institutional Memory: check your head
Protecting my interests
In your recent campaign against me
An Insult to Biology
My Lawyer Said That I Should Call Her
I was, objectively, a happier person, when I was with you.
Visiting Friends
6
Shame on you for thinking people can't change
If I wanted something exquisite
Dear Jen
Why don't you go down to Florida and look for your daddy
How do you objectify the day
You are perfect for me
Was It Hubris
It's like kissing a dead man
Why I am not a Buddhist
Wizard of the Western World
Start A Book
Ant Life