WHO:
Jane Hirshfield
WHAT:
COME, THIEF
WHEN:
Published by Knopf August 25, 2011
WHERE:
New York (10/19), Philadelphia (10/18), Portland (9/13), San Francisco (several dates), Seattle (9/14)
WHY:
“Jane Hirshfield’s lucid poems
are philosophical and sensuous,
concise yet mysterious…ruefully funny
and irreverently reverent.
“They are also gloriously earthy as she looks deeply at trees, animals, insects, and our own wondrous if betraying bodies. An avidly read poet garlanded with prestigious awards, Hirshfield discerns paradoxical wisdom in gravity, time, and memory, red wine, a worn carpet, and a penny. The lilt and patterns of her language are beautifully osmotic, altering our brain waves and our perception of how all the world’s pieces fit together.
“The poet feasts on the sights and sounds of bees, plums, and young musicians and ponders simultaneous forms of consciousness. Molecules inspire thoughts on matter and the perpetuity of motion and change; evolution’s slow parade summons recognition of life’s ‘wanting to live.’ Hirshfield writes with a mystic’s joy and holy radar about the ‘visual heat’ surrounding a person in love and how ‘moonlight builds its cold chapel.’
“Wittily deductive and metaphysically resplendent, Hirshfield’s supple and knowing poems reflect her long view, her quest for balance, and her exuberant participation in the circle dance of existence.”
—Donna Seaman, Booklist
* * * * *
Love in August
White moths
against the screen
in August darkness.
Some clamor
in envy.
Some spread large
as two hands
of a thief
who wants to put
back in your cupboard
the long-taken silver.
* * * * *
Media Resources:
About the book | Author bio | Author appearances
Publicity:
Lena Khidritskaya | 212-572-2103 | lkhidritskaya@randomhouse.com