Ashbery, John

Flow Chart: A Poem

ISBN: 9780679742692
New York, NY, USA: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. First Softcover Edition. Large-Format Softcover. “In the increasingly convincing darkness / The words become palpable, like a fruit / That is too beautiful to eat.”--John Ashbery. Poet and art critic, John Ashbery (1927-2017) is considered one of the most important and influential poets of his time. Ashbery published more than 20 volumes of poetry. Among other awards, he received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (1975). In 2007, he became the first living poet to be anthologized by the Library of America. Renowned for its postmodern complexity and opacity, his work still proves controversial. Offered today is the 1992 long poem, Flow Chart. Flow Chart is a work of 4,794 lines, divided into six numbered chapters or parts, each of which is further divided into sections or verse-paragraphs, varying in number from seven to 42. The sections vary in length from one or two lines, to seven pages. Often described as mysterious, original, difficult, dream-like, Romantic, a part of the continuum of American poetry that includes Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Wallace Stevens and Hart Crane, as well as elusive, inauthentic, unmusical and overmannered. Flow Chart is an enigmatic work that confounds as much as it illuminates. Ashbery’s highly lyrical yet reserved poetic voice soars, careens, and languishes, taking the reader through a miasma of emotions and revelations. From the collection of Laurence Goldstein (1943-2023), poet, editor, and professor in the University of Michigan Department of English Language and Literature. Trade-format softcover. "First paperback edition" as stated at copyright page, presumed first printing though not explicated as such thereon. In very fine condition with minor wear to fine edges, slight smudging to front and back covers, and slight discoloration due to age at spine. Interior very fine appearing substantially mint. Very Fine. [Item #8055]

Price: $40.00