Status
Available
Genres
Collection
Publication
Mariner Books (2009). Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
Description
"This superb Pulitzer Prize-winning collection gives voice to failure with a wry, deft touch from one of this country's most engaging and uncompromising poets. In "Failure, "Philip Schultz evokes the pleasures of family, marriage, beaches, and dogs; New York City in the 1970s; revolutions both interior and exterior; and the terrors of 9/11 with a compassion that demonstrates he is a master of the bittersweet and fierce, the wondrous and direct, and the brilliantly provocative. Filled with poems of "heartbreaking tenderness that go] beyond mere pity" (Gerald Stern), "Failure "is a collection to savor from this major American poet." -- from booksamillion.com.
Media reviews
Life goes on for Schultz, and he continues to write about it with greater conversational sweetness than any other American poet one can readily call to mind.
User reviews
LibraryThing member wrmjr66
This book is a mixed bag of poems that won the Pulitzer recently. The strongest poems are in the middle. The first several poems are formulaic, where a detail mentioned in the first few lines returns at the end with a twist. The last poem is long--nearly 1/2 the book--and is interesting but uneven.
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The narrator is a dog walker (someone that people hire to walk their dogs) who lives in post 9-11 New York. The poem explores his troubled relationship with his father, other people, dogs, and himself. The poems in between these are strong lyric poems that are enjoyable reading. Show Less
Awards
Pulitzer Prize (Winner — Poetry — 2008)
Language
Original language
English