Proofs and Theories: Essays on Poetry

by Louise Glück

Overview

Winner of the 1993 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Non-Fiction, Proofs and Theories is an illuminating collection of essays by Louise Glück, whose most recent book of poems, The Wild Iris, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Glück brings to her prose the same precision of language, the same incisiveness and insight that distinguish her poetry. The force of her thought is evident everywhere in these essays, from her explorations of other poets' work to her skeptical contemplation of current literary critical notions such as sincerety and courage. Here also are Glück's revealing reflections on her own education and life as a poet, and a tribute to her teacher and mentor, Stanley Kunitz. Proofs and Theories is the testament of a major poet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063117617
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/04/2022
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Louise Glück won the Pulitzer Prize for The Wild Iris in 1993. The author of eight books of poetry and one collection of essays, Proofs and Theories: Essays on Poetry, she has received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, the William Carlos Williams Award, and the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for Nonfiction. She was named the next U.S. poet laureate in August 2003. Her most recent book is The Seven Ages. Louise Glück teaches at Williams College and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

This first collection of essays by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gluck (The Wild Iris, 1993) was well worth the wait. Passionate, penetrating, and thankfully unpostmodern, she treats poets including T.S. Eliot, George Oppen, Stanley Kunitz, and subjects including courage, sincerity, and disinterestedness. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"As with her poetry, Glück's prose is fine and pared but visionary; her intelligence is precise and earnest. . . . Here and elsewhere Glück's brevity, clarity, and resolute independence are impressive." — Publishers Weekly

"With this book, [Glück] becomes the patron saint of poets and writers, having fallen and crawled and scared herself to a position from which she reticently gives advice." — Los Angeles Times Book Review

"This first collection of [Glück's] essays is written in a different medium [than her poetry], but it contains the same dark precision, the same spare fates and paradoxes. . . Proofs and Theories. . . is certainly a provocative book. . . it is the prickly poetic testament and memoir of one of America's finest poets."   — Poetry Flash

From the Publisher

"This first collection of [Glück's] essays is written in a different medium [than her poetry], but it contains the same dark precision, the same spare fates and paradoxes. . . Proofs and Theories. . . is certainly a provocative book. . . it is the prickly poetic testament and memoir of one of America's finest poets."  

Poetry Flash

"With this book, [Glück] becomes the patron saint of poets and writers, having fallen and crawled and scared herself to a position from which she reticently gives advice."

Los Angeles Times Book Review

"With this book, [Glück] becomes the patron saint of poets and writers, having fallen and crawled and scared herself to a position from which she reticently gives advice."

Los Angeles Times Book Review