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The Beforelife (Signed and Inscribed)
by Wright, Franz
- Used
- Very Good
- Paperback
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller
-
Avon, Connecticut, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
No Place: Flecken's Ghost Press, 2000. First edition. Paperback. Very Good. Sewn wrappers. 24 unnumbered pages. A scarce poetry chapbook by Wright published in a slender edition of 50 hand-numbered and SIGNED copies. In addition this copy has been INSCRIBED by Wright to his friend and fellow poet James Tate. Notable offsetting to covers, else a very good example in simple printed purple sewn wrappers. Not to be confused with the Knopf hardbound edition that followed one year later with the same name. This chapbook represents one of Wright's scarcest "A" items.
Synopsis
In this stunning collection, Franz Wright chronicles the journey back from a place of isolation and wordlessness. After a period when it seemed certain he would never write poetry again, he speaks with bracing clarity about the twilit world that lies between madness and sanity, addiction and recovery. Wright negotiates the precarious transition from illness to health in a state of skeptical rapture, discovering along the way the exhilaration of love--both divine and human--and finding that even the most battered consciousness can be good company. Whether he is writing about his regret for the abortion of a child, describing the mechanics of slander ("I can just hear them on the telephone and keening all their kissy little knives"), or composing an ironic ode to himself ("To a Blossoming Nut Case"), Wright's poems are exquisitely precise. Charles Simic has characterized him as a poetic miniaturist, whose "secret ambition is to write an epic on the inside of a matchbook cover." Time and again, Wright turns on a dime in a few brief lines, exposing the dark comedy and poignancy of his heightened perception. Here is one of the poems from the collection:Description of Her EyesTwo teaspoonfuls,and my mind goeseveryone can kiss my ass now--then it's changed,I change my mind.Eyes so sad, and infinitely kind.From the Hardcover edition.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Derringer Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 27207
- Title
- The Beforelife (Signed and Inscribed)
- Author
- Wright, Franz
- Format/Binding
- Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First edition
- Publisher
- Flecken's Ghost Press
- Place of Publication
- No Place
- Date Published
- 2000
- Keywords
- Poetry, Signed, Inscribed, Association
- Bookseller catalogs
- Poetry Books;
Terms of Sale
Derringer Books
All books returnable for full refund within two weeks of delivery.
About the Seller
Derringer Books
Biblio member since 2005
Avon, Connecticut
About Derringer Books
Professional seller of quality first editions in all fields. Visitation by appointment.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Wrappers
- The paper covering on the outside of a paperback. Also see the entry for pictorial wraps, color illustrated coverings for...
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Chapbook
- A very short, cheaply produced volume, of a few leaves. Modern chapbooks...
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