Lyrical Strategies is a highly original book that demonstrates how many canonical American novels by authors such as William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, and Cormac McCarthy can be better understood through the methods of lyrics poetry than those of narrative fiction.
John Peck is a member of the remarkable generation of poets, including Robert Hass, Robert Pinsky, and James McMichael, who studied with Yvor Winters at Stanford in the 1960s. His recent work expresses a sharp sense of vulnerability and of the tenacity of human life, both natural and moral.
This double volume of poems is the first U.S. publication of one of the most important and exciting contemporary English poets. "Ukulele Music" is a narrative of violence that ranges from urban London to Patagonia, and his philosophically serious treatment of victim and witness, culture and event, is unparalleled among contemporary writers. "Perduta Gente" is an intense depiction of the pathos and ironies of urban frenzy, squalor, money, and power, complete with a variety of visual textures—newspaper clippings, handwritten notebook entries, typed memos, and a scientific table.
This volume offers the complete text of a poem which, although an acknowledged masterpiece of medieval literature, makes abnormal demands upon the reader by reason of its subtle exploitation both of a difficult dialect of Middle English and of the special idiom of alliterative verse. There is no short cut through the difficulties, but this edition is designed to enable the modern reader to reach a sensitive first-hand understanding of the text as the only basis for valid literary judgement.
The Morte Darthur is a superb story of adventure and love, honor and betrayal, and one of the classics of world literature. Malory perfected his art during the writing of the long and complex work and the earlier parts, though excellent, lack the dramatic power and pervasive tragic irony of the passion, war, and society that constitutes the last quarter of the book. By presenting the last quarter alone, this edition focuses on the greatness of Malory's achievement and allows the reader to see it and enjoy it more fully.
