At last, a definitive selection of the elegant work by a poet at the forefront of American poetry for more than three decades.
With his first several books, J. D. McClatchy established himself as a poet of urbanity, intellect, and prismatic emotion, in the tradition of James Merrill, W. H. Auden, and Elizabeth Bishop one who balances an exploration of the underworld of desire with a mastery of poetic form, and whose artistry reveals the riches and ruins of our plundered hearts. Now, opening with exquisite new poems including the stunning My Hand Collection, a catalogue of art objects that steals up on the complexity of human touch, and a witty and profound poem entitled My Robotic Prostatectomy this selection is a glorious full tour of McClatchy s career. It includes excerpts from the powerful book-length sequence "Ten Commandments" (1998) and his more recent works "Hazmat" (2002) and "Mercury Dressing" (2009) books that explored the body s melodrama, as well as the heart s treacheries, grievances, and boundless capacities. All of his poems present a sumptuous weave of impassioned thought and clear-sighted feeling. He has been rightly hailed as a poet of ferocious alertness, one who elicits (says "The New" "Leader") the kind of wonder and joy we experience when the curtain comes down on a dazzling performance. "From the Hardcover edition.""