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Blood, Tin, Straw: Poems
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Blood, Tin, Straw: Poems Paperback - 1999 - 1st Edition

by Sharon Olds

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A new collection of intensely powerful poems by the New York State Poet Laureate and National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of "The Dead and the Living" and "The Wellspring."

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From the publisher

WINNER OF THE PATERSON POETRY PRIZE - A transcendent collection of poems about the ecstatic and brutal side of a woman's experience--from the Pulitzer Prize and T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry winner, called "a poet for these times, a powerful woman who won't back down" (San Francisco Chronicle).

"She has written without embarrassment or apology, with remarkable passion and savagery and nerve, poems about family and family pathology, early erotic fascination, and sexual life inside marriage."--Amy Hempel

Sharon Olds divides this new book into five sections--"Blood," "Tin," "Straw," "Fire," and "Light"--each made up of fourteen poems whose dominant imagery is drawn from one of these elements. The poems are rooted in different moments of an ordinary life and weave back and forth in time. Each section suggests the progression of the making of a soul cleansed by blood, forged by fire, suffused by light. Sharon Olds transforms her subjects with an alchemist's art, using language that is alternately casual and startling, fierce and transcendent.

This is an intensely moving collection by one of our finest poets.

From the jacket flap

From Sharon Olds--a stunning new collection of poems that project a fresh spirit, a startling energy of language and counterpoint, and a moving, elegiac tone shot through with humor.
From poems that erupt out of history and childhood to those that embody the nurturing of a new generation of children and the transformative power of marital love, Sharon Olds takes risks, writing boldly of physical, emotional, and spiritual sensations that are seldom the stuff of poetry.
These are poems that strike for the heart, as Sharon Olds captures our imagination with unexpected wordplay, sprung rhythms, and the disquieting revelations of ordinary life. Writing at the peak of her powers, this greatly admired poet gives us her finest collection.

"From the Hardcover edition.

Details

  • Title Blood, Tin, Straw: Poems
  • Author Sharon Olds
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition number 1st
  • Edition 1
  • Pages 144
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Knopf Publishing Group, New York
  • Publication date 1999-10-05
  • ISBN 9780375707353 / 0375707352
  • Weight 0.44 lbs (0.20 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.34 x 6.02 x 0.42 in (21.18 x 15.29 x 1.07 cm)
  • Themes
    • Holiday: Valentine's Day
    • Sex & Gender: Feminine
    • Topical: Women's Interest
  • Category Poetry
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 99015602
  • Dewey Decimal Code 811.54

Excerpt

The Necklace



At the worst of the depression, one moment in the office,
suddenly, my necklace shifted,
flowed across some high ribs
and sank down along the top of one breast
as if a creature had got into my shirt,
yet I felt its will-lessness, caress
of matter only, small whipper or
snapper, milk or garter, just
the vertebrae now, as if a stripped
spine had taken its coccyx in its jaw
around my throat -- s equator, and now
stirred on the mortal plates.  And these were
the pearls from my mother, as if she slithered
along me to say, Come away from your gloom,
your father, that garden is a grave, come away,
come away -- as if some crumbs of her milquetoast,
aged and polished to a gem hardness,
spoke in oyster Braille on my chest
near my own breast, suckler singing
to suckler, anti-Circe my mother
led me away from that trough with a light
raking, over me, of her wiggly whip -- just one
wobble along me, globe on her axis,
chariot-wheel of morning.

Media reviews

Citations

  • Booklist, 10/01/1999, Page 339
  • Library Journal, 12/01/1999, Page 142
  • Publishers Weekly, 09/27/1999, Page 98

About the author

SHARON OLDS was born in 1942 in San Francisco and educated at Stanford University and Columbia University. Her previous books are Satan Says, The Dead and the Living, The Gold Cell, The Wellspring, The Father, and Blood, Tin, Straw. She was the New York State Poet Laureate from 1998 to 2000. She teaches poetry workshops in the Graduate Creative Writing Program at New York University and was one of the founders of the NYU workshop program at Goldwater Hospital on Roosevelt Island in New York. Her work has received the Harriet Monroe Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Lamont Selection of the Academy of American Poets, and the San Francisco Poetry Center Award. She lives in New York City.
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Blood, Tin, Straw: Poems
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Blood, Tin, Straw: Poems

by Olds, Sharon

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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. First Edition Stated. Very Good. It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting.
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Blood, Tin, Straw: Poems
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Blood, Tin, Straw: Poems

by Olds, Sharon

  • Used
  • Very good
  • Paperback
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Very good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780375707353 / 0375707352
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Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems

Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems

by Sharon Olds

  • Used
  • Very good
  • Paperback
Condition
Very good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780375707353 / 0375707352
Quantity available
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ThriftBooks
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Free Delivery to USA

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Description:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1999. Paperback. Very Good. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems

Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems

by Sharon Olds

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780375707353 / 0375707352
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Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems

Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems

by Sharon Olds

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780375707353 / 0375707352
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Description:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1999. Paperback. Good. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems

Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems

by Sharon Olds

  • Used
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  • Paperback
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Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780375707353 / 0375707352
Quantity available
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ThriftBooks
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Description:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1999. Paperback. Good. Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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Item price
A$9.92
Free Delivery to USA
Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems
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Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems

by Olds, Sharon

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780375707353 / 0375707352
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Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems
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Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems

by Olds, Sharon

  • Used
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Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780375707353 / 0375707352
Quantity available
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Better World Books
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A$10.62
Free Delivery to USA

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Description:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Used - Good. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems
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Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems

by Olds, Sharon

  • Used
Condition
Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780375707353 / 0375707352
Quantity available
1
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Better World Books
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Item price
A$10.62
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Used - Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$10.62
Free Delivery to USA
Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems
Stock photo: cover may vary

Blood, Tin, Straw : Poems

by Olds, Sharon

  • Used
Condition
Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780375707353 / 0375707352
Quantity available
3
Seller
Better World Books
Biblio Top Seller
Item price
A$10.62
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Used - Good. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$10.62
Free Delivery to USA
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