Dillard University Books

Annie Dillard's Tickets For A Prayer Wheel is an impressive and highly recommended collection of lucid poetry, elegantly written in free verse, concerning the mundane, the natural, and the mystical. Matter-of-fact narrative gives way to descriptive elegance of brevity in this inspirational work. Deciduous trees/have dominion. But look on bark;/molds make fruiting bodies/out of air. Winner/take all. Grab/a handle. Earth/rolls down like dolphins dive,/headlong to dark.

this book ebbs and flows like the wind of an autumn day...

Annie Dillard's collection of twenty-four poems, TICKETS FOR A PRAYER WHEEL was first published in 1974, the same year Dillard published her Pulitzer Prize-winning and best-known work, PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK. In the thirty years since, she has written nonfiction narratives (HOLY THE FIRM, LIVING BY FICTION, TEACHING A STONE TO TALK, THE WRITING LIFE, FOR THE TIME BEING), a memoir (AN AMERICAN CHILDHOOD), and a novel (THE LIVING). By reissuing Dillard's long-out-of-print TICKETS FOR A PRAYER WHEEL, Wesleyan University Press has allowed many grateful readers to finally complete their Annie Dillard collections.

TICKETS FOR A PRAYER WHEEL confirms that Dillard is a poet at heart. In her poetry, like most of her later work, Dillard explores science, nature, time, and theology. Her poetry is related thematically to PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK in that both books attempt to answer Thoreau's question, "With all your science can you tell how it is, and whence it is, that light comes into the soul?" Whereas we find the speaker of title poem "looking for someone who knows how to pray" (p. 50)--"Who will teach us to pray, who will pray for us now," he ponders (p. 53)--we find Dillard asking the same question in her most recent book, FOR THE TIME BEING (1999). From her first book to her last, Dillard's answer remains the same, "God teaches us to pray" (p. 60). "He has no edges," Dillard observes, "and the holes in him spin./ He alone is real,/ and all things lie in him/ as fossil shells/ curl in solid shale" (p. 61).

TICKETS FOR A PRAYER WHEEL offers both short, accessible poems ("The Clearing," "Day at the Office," "Puppy in Deep Snow") and longer, more challenging poetic meditations ("Feast Days," "Bivouac," "Tickets for a Prayer Wheel"). Wesleyan's reissue also includes an excellent Foreward by Michael Collier.

G. Merritt

Very strange stuff is contained in this hard to find book. Annie Dillard is famous for her Pilgrim at Tinker Creek novel. However, I enjoyed this earlier work much more than anything else I have read by her. The poems range from thought provoking, to totally off the wall. Hardly a one of the poems are short of enjoyable. The title poem is worthy of its place on the cover, it struck a chord with me immediately.

Jamie

I have read this book 79 times. It is the product of a genius, and I doubt that I will ever understand it. I have never read any other book 79 times, or even 10, not even the Bible. Please buy this book and try to decipher it yourself, and e-mail me and tell me what it means, because I don't know, and I really really really really want to. Its profundity is far, far beyond my grasp. God bless you, R.H.W. Dillard.

I have read this book 79 times. It is the product of a genius, and I doubt that I will ever understand it. I have never read any other book 79 times, or even 10, not even the Bible. Please buy this book and try to decipher it yourself, and e-mail me and tell me what it means, because I don't know, and I really really really really want to. Its profundity is far, far beyond my grasp. God bless you, R.H.W. Dillard.

R.H.W. Dillard's poems are incredibly wide in range. With each poem, you will be surprised, yet the voice is clearly R.H.W.Dillard. Where else can read a poem titled "Winter Letter to Bluefield"? It's a stunning collection--his best.

Parrish impresses her reader with not only the grasp and knowledge of her material, but with also a certain spice that is often missing in non-fiction. Through her vivid descriptions, the reader is immersed in the Hollins culture. This is most definitely a must for the Dillard and Smith fan, but even more so a must for the reader who enjoys exquisite writing.

The author provides an historical overview of the development of private Southern women's schools from finishing schools to respected institutions of higher learning. Primary in this change at Hollins is the influence of Louis Rubin on both the writing program and the writers that program produced, with many quotes from the students about their mentor. Parrish also gives many humorous and interesting anecdotes about Lee Smith, Annie Dillard and the other subjects of the book during their formative years at Hollins. She shows how their college experiences carried over to their writing both then and through the years since graduation. For Lee Smith and Annie Dillard fans, this book is a must-read.

Aristophanes was a ribald playwright whose raucous plays were brilliantly brought to life by Alfred Corn, RHW Dillard, XJ Kennedy, and Campbell McGrath. In the first play of the series of four plays, Wasps, satirizes the jury-for-pay system, prevalent in Athens during the war with Sparta. Athens was populated with older men, veterans of the wars with Persia, and were particularly noted for the severity of their judgments. In the play, Philocleon is being kept prisoner in his own home by his son, Bdelycleon, in an attempt to prevent the father from going to the courthouse to pronounce sentence on a criminal before even hearing the evidence. Bdelycleon uses a clever argument to convince his father to stay home and serve as judge and jury over household matters. His first case was trying the pet dog for stealing food and not sharing it with the cat.

Lysistrata is a hilarious play about Athenian women who team up with the women of Sparta and Thebes to force the men to make peace. Written during the Peloponnesian War, Aristophanes, like his play, Peace, takes a strong anti-war stance (...) .

In Frogs, Aristophanes hits upon the theme of a lack of good playwrights in Athens. Written after the death of Euripides, Aeschylus, and Sophocles, the hero of the comedy, Dionysus (god of arts, among other things) wants to bring back Euripides from Hades. He pretends to be Hercules (who had gone to Hades to capture Cerberus, the guard dog of Hades) and runs into all kinds of trouble. He eventually referees a crazy debate between Euripides and Aescylus, to determine who the best playwright is.

Finally, in The Sexual Congress, we have an uproarious comedy about the women of Athens disguising themselves as men and stocking the General Assembly. Praxagora, as the leader of the women, proposes that the affairs of the city be turned over to the women. The women won the day and instituted a utopian society not to different from Plato's Republic, but this one went way overboard. Written after the war with Sparta, Athens was beset with corruption and low morale at the time.

The four plays in Aristophanes, 2 span the gamut from Old Comedy to New Comedy. The former was characterized by vulgar and slapstick humor with a Chorus used to interact with the audience. As comedy evolved the Chorus played less a role and there was a softening of the ribald humor so characteristic of Old Comedy.

To make the plays more readable and understandable without losing any of the humor of the plays the translators often made references to Twentieth Century phrases instead of the original Greek phrases. This might be annoying to the scholar but makes these plays eminently enjoyable to the general reader.

This collection of stories by R.H.W. Dillard will send you rolling with laughter and sweating in fear. Each page, each paragraph, and each word is a surprise. You will want to read this again and again! I highly recommend this one!

Reading "On Spiritual Strivings" is both an intellectual and a spiritual experience! Taking a class with the author was a foretaste of what the book would offer. It was akin to sitting at the author's feet.

If you love things historical but don't necessarily love reading history, this book is a delightful way to learn about the South--not from a historian or a scholar, but from a mother teaching her children how to live in the times they were born in, nearly 100 years ago.

Sometimes we meet a person in a book we'd like to claim as family. Reading these letters of Ina Dillard Russell's found me wishing I were one of her 13 children--with a few dozen of these letters to call my very own.

The letters themselves are full of life-- as it was lived by real people-- in rural Georgia from the early part of this century to the Great Depression. They tell the story of a remarkable Southern family, headed by a remarkable Southern woman.

Born in 1868, Ina Dillard Russell grew up during Reconstruction. She married an Athens lawyer and future chief justice of the Georgia supreme court in 1891, and raised her family (which included future GA governor and U.S. senator Richard Russell) with a generous spirit, prudent advice, and loving guidance.

It's all there in the letters, which Ina wrote on any scrap of paper handy, usually as she held a baby on her lap! I found her comments on the challenges life presents and on how to rise gracefully to them, her tips on hygiene, diet, manners, and fashion, on study, perserverance and spirit, not only a tonic and a charm, but a key to the tenor of the times.

Since we can't all be Ina's children, the recipients of most of these treasures, we have Ina's editor (and grandaughter) Sally Russell to thank for selecting them from the nearly 3000 letters Ina wrote and passing them on. Russell's editorial comments to each of the five chapters are rich in anecdote, history and heart. She explains just enough about the people involved, and then wisely allows Ina to speak for herself.

For the letters themselves tell Ina's story better than narrative ever could. She gives herself so freely to the page, expends her energy so fully on paper, that by the end of the book I'd come to feel I'd actually met her, had spent time with her in the kitchen or on the front porch swing. She's part of my family now, and I refuse to let her go.

RIVETING!! This book grabs you from the very first chapter and does'nt let you go until the suprising conclusion!! It is non-stop action written about a law enforcement investigation by a well seasoned Law Enforcement Officer. Don't miss this one, you won't be able to put it down!

A truly enjoyable read! If you enjoy stories driven by characters, this one will not fail you. The characters are well defined and will feel familiar by the end of the story. The book goes along at a good pace and maintains interest throughout. And watch out for that plot twist!!! Give this one read -- you'll be glad you did.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Nash Chronicles. At first I was unsure of the book, but once I started reading I couldn't put it down. The characters in the story come to life and you can begin to understand the aspects of their lives. This book really gets into the lifestyle of law enforcement not what Hollywood wants to make you believe. The suspense the story creates keeps you hungry for more. The twist at the end is what I remember most about the book, but I won't give it away.

The Papers of Jefferson Davis is a project out of Rice University in Houston, Texas. The entire series is well-edited, nicely produced and the format of the series is reader-friendly. The books reproduce all of the letters Davis wrote, as well as his speeches, telegrams and the responses to his letters. The responses appear in the footnotes and the appendix of the books.

For anyone with an interest in the American Civil War, Jefferson, or the politics of the Confederacy, these are welcome volumes. Most surprising to me is that Davis comes across privately as an intelligent, sometimes witty man. His letters to hiw wife, Varina, are especially intriguing. Highly recommended.

The Papers of Jefferson Davis is a project out of Rice University in Houston, Texas. The entire series is well-edited, nicely produced and the format of the series is reader-friendly. The books reproduce all of the letters Davis wrote, as well as his speeches, telegrams and the responses to his letters. The responses appear in the footnotes and the appendix of the books.

For anyone with an interest in the American Civil War, Jefferson, or the politics of the Confederacy, these are welcome volumes. Most surprising to me is that Davis comes across privately as an intelligent, sometimes witty man. His letters to hiw wife, Varina, are especially intriguing. Highly recommended.

The Papers of Jefferson Davis is a project out of Rice University in Houston, Texas. The entire series is well-edited, nicely produced and the format of the series is reader-friendly. The books reproduce all of the letters Davis wrote, as well as his speeches, telegrams and the responses to his letters. The responses appear in the footnotes and the appendix of the books.

For anyone with an interest in the American Civil War, Jefferson, or the politics of the Confederacy, these are welcome volumes. Most surprising to me is that Davis comes across privately as an intelligent, sometimes witty man. His letters to hiw wife, Varina, are especially intriguing. Highly recommended.

Review of R.H.W. Dillard's Sallies, a collection of his poems

Sally n.; pl. -lies.

A rushing or bursting forth; a brief outbreak into activity, an excursion, esp. one away from the usual track, a flight of fancy, liveliness or wit, a flashing forth of a quick and active mind, a brilliantly spoken or written passage, a bold violation of custom.

Richard Dillard, Roanoke-born scholar, takes us on a poetic excursion. We sally into his poetic expression on the edge of propriety; there are no really bad words.
His body of work in Sallies is varied: long and short, rhymed and unrhymed, serious and comical. It's fun to read.
With a doctorate in English and professor of English at Hollins University in Roanoke, Dillard surprises with perceptive poetic imagery and then shocks with a big poem on flatulence.
Imagery: "The silhouette of a songbird / Sways on the tip of a cedar, / Transfers to a nearby hemlock, / Flutters and pivots on the highest slender / Limb, a fragment of evening song, / Then gone."
Flatulence: "O my bran-eating healthy ones, / My windy-bummed buglers, oat-eaters, / Husk-crunchers, settling back after the evening's meal, / Awaiting... / Explosions that float the buttocks."
He pokes fun at a dim-witted colleague: "Even the devil had one good idea. / Hitler had the autobahn, / Stalin, the central Asian dams, / So, I suppose even a fool / like you must know something true, / One thing almost valid, / But, quite seriously, I doubt it."
Explores aging, life and death, loneliness:
"The mysteries of summer, / Great mystery of time, shadows / Soon to lengthen even at noon, / While earlier today a crow / Punching at the meaty side / Of the rabbit in the road / Cast none at all, the sun dead overhead, / nights will spread, days fade, / But summer still begins, the heat, / Height of the year. / We seek solace from time... / The rabbit's ghost shimmers on the new-mown lawn, / Then breaks away, a jagged line, / Four crows huddle in a dark clump / As a distant train groans / And shifts its load of coal, / Drones on to tomorrow's early dawn."
In Black Dog Dillard likens deep depression bordering on death, much as Churchill did, as a black dog, "The mood that swells like a gray cloud / Even on a bright morning, / Or on a gray morning covers the day / Like a musty blanket, one stored too long / In a cellar cabinet or damp case in the attic."
The shortest entry is one sentence, 10 syllables, 13 if you count the title.
"Without You Each day grows old, no minute ever new."
The longest poems, hardly worth tromping through, were created when Dillard was asked to write several critical essays on the works of several other authors. "I avoided the agony of writing critical prose by writing in verse and allowing the muse to do the heavy lifting," he writes in the endnotes.
For the most part, the three essays are too heavy for the light reader, appealing most likely only to other writers.
He should have followed Ciardi's dictum even as he quoted it in Fred Chappell's Poetry: Paradox and Tension.

"It seems that more often year by year / I ignore (poet John) Ciardi's dictum / 'Not to send a poem on a prose errand."'

The third essay in verse, Anthropophagi is a bit more fun as he tells critics to get their tucked heads out of their vests, their buried heads out of their chests and
read the books, not just the books about the books, "read Poe, / Actually read him, read Twain, read Robinson, / Read the women and the men... / Read everything from Shakespeare to Stapledon, / And read them well, not just to fit a template / Or make a point dozens have already made."
Some of his poems have recognizable forms - as does How You Saved My Life: A Letter, written in 20 stanzas of three lines each, the last word of each third line rhyming with the last word in the first line of the stanza to follow, thus:

"Since you asked, it wasn't swift heroics,
A leap in front of a moving train
Or a fireman's carry from a burning tower.

It didn't happen in a minute, even an hour,"

And this:

"By chance (or some higher plan) someone arrives
Just when we need them, shows us the way
From the window's ledge or to the open door,

Helps us to find ourselves...and more.
So that's the story, Sallie, all there is.
I send it with my love and thanks. OXOX"

Dillard has written five other poetry collections, most recently Just Here, Just Now, 1994; two novels, a story collection, two critical studies and verse translations of plays by Plautus and Aristophanes.

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