Gregg, Linda

Chosen by the Lion

ISBN: 155597208X
St. Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 1994. First Softcover Edition. Softcover. Inscribed & signed by Linda Gregg to Thomas Rain Crowe. "Chosen by the Lion is Linda Gregg's fourth collection, and her most eloquent, bespeaking a deeply personal reconciliation with the loss of love. Gregg is able to take common experience, to see it clearly, in all its mundane and ordinary complexity. But in her poetry, that experience is also explored in its affinity to the gods, to the ways of nature. The result is an experience that is firmly grounded in the ordinary, yet transformed spiritually." (back cover) A collection of poems by Linda Gregg (1942-2019), the acclaimed, award-winning American poet whose prose-poetic, almost deceptively conversational style is quite unique & riveting. This is the first trade-format softcover edition in sewn binding, published simultaneously with the first hardcover edition; first printing as noted on copyright page (number sequence begins with 2, a first-printing practice common to the venerable Graywolf Press imprint). With (uncredited) reproduction of ancient Greek illustration on front cover; photograph of Gregg by poet Jack Gilbert (her companion at the time) on back cover. On title page, below her printed name in bold dark-green ink, Gregg has hand-written & signed: "For Thomas and Nan/ Best Wishes/ (signed) Linda Gregg." "Thomas" is Thomas Rain Crowe, the noted poet & publisher who was at the center of the Baby Beat Generation/ Second San Francisco Renaissance during the 1970s (see our book, Starting from San Francisco, item No. 3071, Deluxe Edition No. 3075); "Nan" is Crowe's partner. Gregg & Crowe were near-contemporaries & colleagues. A key collectible in the Gregg canon, with excellent poet-to-poet association & provenance. In very fine condition with only very slight rubbing & scratching to front, back covers & spine; lightest wear & a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same. Interior very fine with only tiny bumps at edges & corners of a few page leaves. Very Fine. [Item #3553]

Price: $60.00 save 20% $48.00