Gewanter, David

In the Belly

Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1997. First Printing. Softcover. Signed by David Gewanter. . “The driveway slab lay like a tongue depressor / between my room and the sour, harassed boy’s; / at six I heard him scrape his bedroom dresser / against the door and yell Bull. Now he toys / with his TV, his face glazed the calm blue / of a window-saint. Lately he’s been mumbling / backtalk to himself—it’s all he can do: / when his cute mom pecks, or her drug-puffed, stumbling / boyfriend harangues him, he mouths a quiet pledge” (from “Push Play,” page 69). David Gewanter is a poet (and an alum of the University of Michigan here in Ann Arbor) whose work has appeared in a plethora of publications, including Poetry Magazine, Harvard Review, Boston Review, & Ploughshares, which awarded their John C. Zacharis first book prize to In the Belly in 1998. Formerly a writing professor at Harvard University and now an English professor at Georgetown University, his poetry focuses on family and personal relationships as well as larger social situations and experiences. “Twisting between wry humor and wrenching exploration, In the Belly opens the body of a life: youth, loves and losses, a raucous, self-destructive family. In richly worked, plainspoken lyrics, Gewanter uncovers the links of human strength and human frailty” (from back cover). In the Belly is the thirty-fifth title in the UCP’s Phoenix Poets Series which began in 1983. Trade-Format Softcover Original, First Edition, First Printing as indicated by number sequence on copyright page. This copy is signed by Gewanter on title page below his printed name (which he has crossed out in the same pen ink used to sign). Signature, in quality black pen ink, reads: "David Gewanter." Book in fine condition with low-impact scratch-like “phantom scuffs” visible only in certain light on front and back covers and slightest shelf-wear to fine-edges & corners of front and back covers. Fine. [Item #5424]

Price: $30.00 save 20% $24.00