Boss Cupid: Poems

by Thom Gunn

Paperback, 2001

Status

Available

Call number

POET Gunn

Collection

Michael C. Weidemann LGBT Library at Gay City

Publication

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2001), Edition: 1st, 112 pages

Description

In some respects a sequel to The Man With Night Sweats, Boss Cupid is a memorialising of friends who have died, an anatomy of survival, and a self-portrait of the poet in age. The poems are written under the sign of Cupid, 'devious master of our bodies', but their intimacies are always heard against the sociable human hum of an entire community which Gunn depicts in poems of fluent grace, as formal as they are relaxed.

User reviews

LibraryThing member whitewavedarling

Smart and raw, these poems are about desire in all its' forms, both admirable and frightening. Gunn was one of only a few contemporary poets who are comfortable writing in form, and that versatility shows here. Unlike much contemporary form poetry, though, these poems aren't burdened by

restraint--instead, they seem to celebrate life, and love. While some of the poems require some knowledge of biblical lore or classical mythology for a full appreciation of the content, many of them are far more accessible in nature, focusing on scene and character instead of building from other stories. Throughout the poems, however, Gunn's quick rhythms and perfectly formed descriptions are worth reading and re-reading, particularly when his poems are focused in on single short scenes and the results and questions of desire, as is so often the case in this collection.

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LibraryThing member tnechodomu

So relevant; so sad. I was surprised to see myself so often in Thom Gunn's words. I highly recommend Boss Cupid.

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