The Fall Steals 🍁
Well well well.
Autumn is creeping down from the tops of the trees which gold there first and it has almost fallen, before rains come and fell all the leaves that carried it, upon our dreaming heads. It’s lovely, that is to say, as always. I’ll keep this relatively brief because there are some important details that I shouldn’t want you to lose in the heady reverie of our usual companionable soiree.
First, Amazon is somehow selling hardback copies of The Elegy Beta for less than $5.00(with free shipping!) right now. They may not be tomorrow, but as I type this, the offer is legit. I know, because I bought one. I truly don’t know how they afford to do this, since neither I nor the publisher agreed to such a promotion. Maybe it is an error on their part. But if I were you, if I was even the least bit curious about poem books, I’d get a copy while they’re hot. If you don’t dig it, bring it along as a hostess’ gift to the next dinner party you get invited to, assuming the world corrects and we have those again. Seriously, how in the world is this worth it for them? Do any of you know?
Okay, second, I had a nice surprise the other morning when I woke up to a text from my priest saying congratulations and that that same book I was just talking about had been reviewed by North American Anglican. The writer did a nice job of pulling out some oft-neglected aspects of the collection, saying nice things like
There’s a kind of laugh-so-you-don’t-cry postmodernism at work here.
And
Though unlike Rilke, Willett is not ultimately afraid of the perfection of angels. He can turn our morbid foreknowledge into Christian hope.
Did I mention you can get a hardback of it for five bucks?
Geez.
Third, I was a guest on my favorite drive time radio show again, WORD FM Pittsburgh. We talked about autumnal poems, and I explain the meaning behind the poem “Deflowered” from my first book Phases. I also read a poem by Rilke about wine.
Reading
The best articles I’ve read recently were:
- this, by Jeffrey Bilbro, about darkness
- this, by Jeffrey Overstreet, about Aretha Franklin
- this about the 20th anniversary of Kid A
But mostly, I’ve been reading this wonderful new novel by Marly Youmans. Holy smokes you guys, the tension in this thing, and the sense of foreignness, and the pacing! I’m not finished with it yet, but I can’t see it being bested for my favorite novel of the year.
Listening
I’m trying to get my head around the new Sufjan Stevens record and mostly it’s working. Often I can’t put the puzzle of his music together and give up, but about this new venture, I’m hopeful. Sandra McCracken has a new one that I’ve only been through once, but it’s already my favorite from her. For some reason, I’ve been listening to CCM from 90’s women: Susan Ashton’s Wakened by the Wind and Leslie Phillips’ The Turning. Early Over the Rhine. I don’t know what’s going on, but I look forward to these records again as soon as they’re done spinning.
All for now, you beauties. Stay in touch.