Gluck, Louise

Meadowlands

Hopewell, NJ: Ecco Press, 1996. First Edition. Hardcover. Inscribed & signed by Louise Gluck to Laurence Goldstein. "In her first new book of poems since she won the Pulitzer Prize for The Wild Iris, Louise Gluck brilliantly interweaves- in an astonishing book-length sequence- the dissolution of a contemporary marriage with the story of The Odyssey. Meadowlands is by turns tolerant, expansive, bracingly comic and, finally, heartbreaking. Shifting between the mythic and the modern, in a new and unexpected manner. Here we find Penelope stubbornly weaving, transforming waiting into an act of will; here, too, a shrewd preternaturally knowing adolescent Telemachus, a divided Odysseus, a worldly Circe. A modern couple also occupies these poems, engaged in the endless negotiation of contemporary domestic realities rendered in an ongoing conversation, eternally unresolved, rich with the charged trivia of daily life." (from front flap) A themed collection of poems by Louise Gluck (1943-2023), the revered Nobel & Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet. Truly epic both in terms of its nods to Homer's masterpiece of antiquity & its modern, intimate echoes & insights- reminding this writer of James Joyce's concept of Ulysses, yet all Gluck's own. Hardcover in unclipped first-issue dust jacket (with $22 price & "9604" printed at rear flap), first edition as stated at copyright page, first printing as indicated by number sequence thereon. On the dedication page, below the printed statement "For Robert and Frank," Gluck has hand-written & signed in cursive black ink: "& for Larry-/ with all good/ wishes, in hope/ our paths cross/ more regularly/ (signed) Louise." "Larry" is Laurence Goldstein (also 1943-2023), the renowned American poet, film critic, editor & academician here at the University of Michigan. An essential, rich & rewarding classic Gluck collectible in its rarest contemporary form, inestimably enhanced by her affectionate poet-to-poet inscription & signature to Goldstein; & with most-distinguished, relevant provenance. See also item No. 8509. Book in very fine condition with only a touch of rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers & spine; a hint of wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; one very small, barely discernable blister near lower edge of blank white front board (undoubtedly a miniscule flaw as issued). Interior very fine, appearing substantially mint. Dust jacket very fine with only slight rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers, spine & flaps; a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #8512]

Price: $400.00