Irish-American Books

Compiled and edited by Harry Thomas, Talking With Poets comprises unique selection of interviews with five very different, but highly notable poets: Robert Pinsky, Seamus Heaney, Philip Levine, Michael Hofmann, and David Ferry. A deep and moving examination into lives, motivations, and how life experiences flow into written words on the page, Talking With Poets is an enthusiastically recommended look into what goes into the making of elegant and expressive verse, and of these five men who are particularly gifted in such creations.

This book is great as a bedtime book for infants as well as toddlers. My 17 month old son just loves this one. He gets soooo excited when he sees me grab it to read it to him right before I put him down for the night. It's part of our ritual for putting him to bed. I strongly recommend this one!!

Excellent Book. It presents a turning point in how to read a poem. Rhythm does not exist only in the physical material of the poem or the metrical structure, it is "a state of being itself." It is a paradox, "where speech and images are attempting to address the experience of rhythm, which is, prcisely, the state of being in which there is neither imagery nor speech" (Aviram, 270). That is the main message of this book. Let me suggest that you read first "Cases for Interpretation" chapter, on pages 247-286, in which another kind of surprise will motivate you and encourage you to ask for more surprises until you come to the end of this book! The interpretation of several ballads, 'Lord Randal' for instance, and 'Emily Dickinson's 'Because I could not stop for Death -' are just examples through which the poet Aviram demonstrates his new approach in how a poem can be read or rather looked at.

In analyzing "Testimonies of Exile" a number of themes were realized. The poet's major theme that runs through the fifty-six poems is the theme of alienation from her homeland, Ghana. Alienation as treated is seen as moving from ones country and not being able to go back due to situations that one cannot help. Abena discusses alienation bringing out other forms such as alienation from one's culture, history and from oneself. She again discusses the fact that through alienation one now has acquired self-knowledge. Alienation from ones culture is seen in the poem Exile which also happens to discuss alienation in its totality. That is being alienated prevents one to perform his cultural rites like funerals, and the effect is permanent alienation from ones culture Again we find alienation from oneself or ones wishes in the poem "A sense of writing" in this poem the poet is unable to write a script because of her inability to gather her thoughts. In terms of style, the language was identified to be simple and self-explanatory. She also uses versification in her poems, that is, some poems are single stanzas example "Petition" and others have more than one stanzas like "Testimonies for Father." She also uses symbols in her presentation, for instance the use of "communion wine and Wafer" in "Testimonies for Father" when she compares their love for their father to the love Christians share for Christ. Abena beautifully combines her style and themes in her collection. One can say that there is congruity between the two. We realize that through her style of presentation, her themes are very well exploited. Again, in her use of internal monologue, her themes are well exploited. In presenting the theme of alienation from oneself, for instance, Abena writes "and anyway I can't go home" as if she is talking to herself. She uses very simple words as well as lower case letters in starting the poem. The poem lacks punctuation marks. This leaves us to realize that she is by herself since the rules of writing are not applied when one is talking to oneself. Again, through her titles of the poems, her themes are well presented. She uses titles that directly expose her subject matter; that is to say, her titles are directly and forcefully presented. For example, the title "Exile" portrays the subject matter instantly. It could be said finally that the themes and stylistic features of Abena Busia's poems complement each other in depicting the poetic vision of the writer. Thus on can say that there is a great deal of congruity between the subject matter and the style of the poems of Abena Busia's TESTIMONIES OF EXILE.

As a student of history (Ok - I'll grant you I have only a dilettante status) I must say this is a book that everyone should read. Dusinberre doesn't spare the grisly details and approaches the subject from a variety of angles. You'll get the view of the charnel house and from planters.

All to better illuminate a ghastly system that put so many into the grinder.

Powerful and well written. If you love the Palmetto State and history in general then I highly recommend this one.

Jeffrey Johnson, by means of a serious, erudite and documented work, portrays the religious writings of John Donne as texts fruit of a well-founded knowledge of Christian theology, in which the author elaborates, rejects and innovates the discourses of religious dispute of his days. To consider Donne as a full-fledged religious thinker with a personal theological structuring of the Christian creed, is the first pioneering step taken by Donne scholarship to propound a more compelling understanding of his sermons and religious poetry. Johnson's methodology a' la Skinner contextualizes the single thinker in his cultural matrix, and thencewise proceeds to elucidate the ways in which he used and reacted the religious thought of his time. This book, given the heavy theological contents, is useful primarily for Renaissance scholars and students who want to get a feel of the complexity and seriousness of Donne's sermons, localizing them in their context, and perceiving them as answers to the theological problematics of the time.

Dr. Carl Chinn presents an excellent, informative read in his excellent book. I have had the pleasure to meet Carl on several occasions, and discuss his books.

It seems the more T.F. Meagher is written about, the more complex he becomes. Was he an adventurer, drunkard, opportunist bent on personal glory or was he an orator with few equals, a deeply committed patriot to both Ireland and the country of his adoption, the United States. Some facts we know: He was universally loved and admired by the troops he lead throughout his time as commander of the 69th Regiment - 'The Fighting Irish.'He was passionate in everything he was involved - witness his speeches throughout his career on the conflict in Ireland and in the U.S. Witness his extraordinary love letter to his future wife Libby Townsend. We know he drank but there is not one shred of evidence that he drank before or during battle. Like all individuals destined for greatness he had his detractors, including those from the Confederate side who sought to besmirch his name and reputation and those - mainly Masons, nativists and religious bigots - he encountered in his short term as Acting Governor of Montana. This book discusses all these issues in a calm, analytical way by Meagher scholars knowledgeable in the different phases of Meagher's life and career. It is a book well worth perusing, Jim Cullinane

Independent scholar and English teacher Jaime Hovey presents "A Thousand Words: Portraiture, Style, and Queer Modernism", a unique and seminal work of literary analysis proposing the case for a 'queer modernism', and that the literary portrait - a favored form of experimentalism in late nineteenth and early twentieth century writing - served as an aesthetic mechanism for this 'queer modernism' phenomena. Though literary portraiture speaks volumes about the complicated connection between identity, sexuality, and art, very little writing has specifically addressed 'queer modernism' in literary portraiture prior to a scholarly summation and analysis as represented with "A Thousand Words". Individual chapters discuss stylistic variations, caricature studies, issues of forgery, looking back on modernism, and so much more, in this welcome and scholarly contribution to academic library Literature and Gay/Lesbian Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

I read this 4 years ago, when touring Ireland (when abroad, i always get a random book by a local author), and it's the best pot-luck book purchase i've ever made. Humour, compassion, and all the things that left me with a strong impression of a great book, this long afer. On the strngth of it, i'm buying up all his titles.