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Plainwater by Anne Carson

Reading Guide

Plainwater

Essays and Poetry

Essays and Poetry

By Anne Carson

By Anne Carson

By Anne Carson

By Anne Carson

Best Seller

Part of Vintage Contemporaries

Part of Vintage Contemporaries

Paperback $17.00

Mar 28, 2000 | 272 Pages

Ebook $9.99

Mar 18, 2015 | 272 Pages

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    Plainwater by Anne Carson
    Paperback
    Mar 28, 2000 | 272 Pages
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    • Paperback $17.00

      Mar 28, 2000 | 272 Pages

    Ebook
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    • Ebook $9.99

      Mar 18, 2015 | 272 Pages

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    About Plainwater

    The poetry and prose collected in Plainwater are a testament to the extraordinary imagination of Anne Carson, a writer described by Michael Ondaatje as "the most exciting poet writing in English today." Succinct and astonishingly beautiful, these pieces stretch the boundaries of language and literary form, while juxtaposing classical and modern traditions.

    Carson envisions a present-day interview with a seventh-century BC poet, and offers miniature lectures on topics as varied as orchids and Ovid. She imagines the muse of a fifteenth-century painter attending a phenomenology conference in Italy. She constructs verbal photographs of a series of mysterious towns, and takes us on a pilgrimage in pursuit of the elusive and intimate anthropology of water. Blending the rhythm and vivid metaphor of poetry with the discursive nature of the essay, the writings in Plainwater dazzle us with their invention and enlighten us with their erudition.

    About Plainwater

    The poetry and prose collected in Plainwater are a testament to the extraordinary imagination of Anne Carson, a writer described by Michael Ondaatje as "the most exciting poet writing in English today." Succinct and astonishingly beautiful, these pieces stretch the boundaries of language and literary form, while juxtaposing classical and modern traditions.

    Carson envisions a present-day interview with a seventh-century BC poet, and offers miniature lectures on topics as varied as orchids and Ovid. She imagines the muse of a fifteenth-century painter attending a phenomenology conference in Italy. She constructs verbal photographs of a series of mysterious towns, and takes us on a pilgrimage in pursuit of the elusive and intimate anthropology of water. Blending the rhythm and vivid metaphor of poetry with the discursive nature of the essay, the writings in Plainwater dazzle us with their invention and enlighten us with their erudition.

    Reading Guide

    Reading Guide

    Also by Anne Carson

    Float
    Red Doc>
    Decreation
    The Beauty of the Husband
    Men in the Off Hours
    See all books by Anne Carson

    Also by Anne Carson

    Float
    Red Doc>
    Decreation
    The Beauty of the Husband
    Men in the Off Hours
    See all books by Anne Carson

    About Anne Carson

    ANNE CARSON was born in Canada and has been a professor of Classics for over thirty years. Her awards and honors include the Lannan Award, the Pushcart Prize, the Griffin Trust Award for Excellence in Poetry, and fellowships from the Guggenheim… More about Anne Carson

    About Anne Carson

    ANNE CARSON was born in Canada and has been a professor of Classics for over thirty years. Her awards and honors include the Lannan Award, the Pushcart Prize, the Griffin Trust Award for Excellence in Poetry, and fellowships from the Guggenheim… More about Anne Carson

    Product Details

    Category: Poetry | Literary Collections

    Paperback | $17.00
    Published by Vintage
    Mar 28, 2000 | 272 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780375708428

    Category: Poetry | Literary Collections

    Ebook | $9.99
    Published by Vintage
    Mar 18, 2015 | 272 Pages | ISBN 9781101911273

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    Praise

    "Breathtaking. . . . A work of gorgeous innovation and a staunch hypnotic intelligence."–The Village Voice

    "Carson has . . . created an individual form and style for narrative verse. . . . Seldom has Pound’s injunction ‘Make It New’ been so spectacularly obeyed." —The New York Review of Books

    "Anne Carson is a philosopher of heartbreak."   —The Nation

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