Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems

by Mark Doty

Overview

“Fire to Fire should solidify Doty’s position as a star of contemporary American poetry. . . . The poems combine close attention to the fragile, contingent things of the world with the constant, almost unavoidable chance of transcendence.” — Publishers Weekly

A landmark collection of new and published works by one of our finest poets that is a testament to the clarity and thoughtful lyricism of his poems

Fire to Fire collects the best works from seven books of poetry by Mark Doty, acclaimed poet and New York Times bestselling author of two memoirs, Firebird and Dog Years.

Doty’s subjects—our mortal situation, the evanescent beauty of the world, desire’s transformative power, and art’s ability to give shape to human lives—echo and develop across twenty years of poems. His signature style encompasses both the plainspoken and the artfully wrought; here one of contemporary American poetry’s most lauded, recognizable voices speaks to the crises and possibilities of our times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060752514
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/27/2009
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Mark Doty's books of poetry and nonfiction prose have been honored with numerous distinctions, including the National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN/Martha Albrand Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and, in the United Kingdom, the T. S. Eliot Prize. In 2008, he won the National Book Award for Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems. He is a professor at the University of Houston, and he lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

FIRE TO FIRE should solidify Doty’s position as a star of contemporary American poetry…The poems combine close attention to the fragile, contingent things of the world with the constant, almost unavoidable chance of transcendence.” — Publishers Weekly 

“Mark Doty still finds wonder in a world of confusion and hardships. Beauty is the object of worship in FIRE TO FIRE, this much needed book of new and selected older poems…The new poems speak from a passionate middle age…Doty takes us with him on his journeys from the everyday to the ecstatic.” — Craig Morgan Teicher, Time Out New York

“[Doty] uses language as a way to highlight a moment, elevate it, and unearth hidden depth and meaning. . . . Striking imagery and a powerful imagination are two of his best tools.” — Christian Science Monitor

“Doty is always searching for beauty in a world that can be tragic or simply mundane.” — Newsday

“Showcases Doty’s abiding fondness for examining the human condition” — Washington Post Book World

“Doty displays a gift for interweaving arresting image with tender narrative.” — Slate

“Doty’s facility with his chosen form...is so natural that the craft in his work is all but invisible; he makes the damnably difficult look deceptively simple.” — Booklist

“If words this moving do not constitute great poetry, I’d like to know what does.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Doty is terrifically precise as he inspects time’s wreckage. . . . The rhythm of his lines, its syntactical genius, propels us down the page, stopping time when necessary, making the familiar. . . exotic.” — Dallas Morning News

From the Publisher

Doty displays a gift for interweaving arresting image with tender narrative.

Slate

Doty’s facility with his chosen form...is so natural that the craft in his work is all but invisible; he makes the damnably difficult look deceptively simple.

Booklist

[Doty] uses language as a way to highlight a moment, elevate it, and unearth hidden depth and meaning. . . . Striking imagery and a powerful imagination are two of his best tools.

Christian Science Monitor

Mark Doty still finds wonder in a world of confusion and hardships. Beauty is the object of worship in FIRE TO FIRE, this much needed book of new and selected older poems…The new poems speak from a passionate middle age…Doty takes us with him on his journeys from the everyday to the ecstatic.

Craig Morgan Teicher

Doty is terrifically precise as he inspects time’s wreckage. . . . The rhythm of his lines, its syntactical genius, propels us down the page, stopping time when necessary, making the familiar. . . exotic.

Dallas Morning News

Doty is always searching for beauty in a world that can be tragic or simply mundane.

Newsday

If words this moving do not constitute great poetry, I’d like to know what does.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Showcases Doty’s abiding fondness for examining the human condition

Washington Post Book World

Doty’s facility with his chosen form...is so natural that the craft in his work is all but invisible; he makes the damnably difficult look deceptively simple.

Booklist

Mark Doty still finds wonder in a world of confusion and hardships...a much-needed book of new and selected older poems by Doty.

Time Out New York

Doty displays a gift for interweaving arresting image with tender narrative.

Slate

"Pages falling into sleep and dust,/ dust and sleep, burning so slowly/ you wouldn't even know there was a fire." Yet every one of the poems here is ablaze, each illuminating its subject and fixing it in our minds before it disappears. This book won the National Book Award for the already trophy-laden Doty. (LJ4/1/08)

—Barbara Hoffert

Library Journal