American Melancholy

Joyce Carol Oates documents our precious lives with an exacting eye to detail. She uses the tools of poetry like a master builder. From the biography of a poem, “To Marlon Brando in Hell,” to a plaintive and loving tribute to her late husband, “Palliative,” Oates writes poetry as expertly as she does fiction. In addition, she tips her hat to William Carlos Williams, Christopher Smart and Billy Collins. To read American Melancholy is to get a history, literature and civic lesson all within 128 pages. This is a solid book of poetry to be held in high esteem.