An Individual History: Poems

Fiction & Literature, Poetry, American
Cover of the book An Individual History: Poems by Michael Collier, W. W. Norton & Company
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Author: Michael Collier ISBN: 9780393239218
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Publication: July 2, 2012
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company Language: English
Author: Michael Collier
ISBN: 9780393239218
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication: July 2, 2012
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Language: English

“Profound, emotional, sparing, loving, and sometimes very funny. . . . [Collier is] always the consummate craftsman.”—Poet Lore

An Individual History describes the fears, anger, and guilt—personal, familial, societal, political, and historical—that comprise a life. The figure of the speaker’s maternal grandmother who was institutionalized for five decades serves as an overriding metaphor for this haunting, bold new work by an essential American poet.

from “An Individual History

This was before the time of lithium and Zoloft
before mood stabilizers and anxiolytics
and almost all the psychotropic drugs, but not before
    thorazine,
which the suicide O’Laughlin called “handcuffs for the
   mind.”
It was before, during, and after the time of atomic
   fallout,
Auschwitz, the Nakba, DDT, and you could take water
    cures,
find solace in quarantines, participate in shunnings,
or stand at Lourdes among the canes and crutches.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

“Profound, emotional, sparing, loving, and sometimes very funny. . . . [Collier is] always the consummate craftsman.”—Poet Lore

An Individual History describes the fears, anger, and guilt—personal, familial, societal, political, and historical—that comprise a life. The figure of the speaker’s maternal grandmother who was institutionalized for five decades serves as an overriding metaphor for this haunting, bold new work by an essential American poet.

from “An Individual History

This was before the time of lithium and Zoloft
before mood stabilizers and anxiolytics
and almost all the psychotropic drugs, but not before
    thorazine,
which the suicide O’Laughlin called “handcuffs for the
   mind.”
It was before, during, and after the time of atomic
   fallout,
Auschwitz, the Nakba, DDT, and you could take water
    cures,
find solace in quarantines, participate in shunnings,
or stand at Lourdes among the canes and crutches.

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