Before Helen Macdonald rose to international acclaim with her "beautiful and nearly feral" (
New York Times) bestselling memoir
H Is for Hawk, she wrote a collection of poetry,
Shaler's Fish.
In robust, lyrical verse,
Shaler's Fish roams both the outer and inner landscapes of the poet's universe, seamlessly fusing reflections on language, science, and literature, with the loamy environments of the natural worlds around her. Moving between the epic--war, history, art, myth, philosophy--and the specific--CNN, Ancient Rome, Auden, Merleau-Ponty--Macdonald examines with humor and intellect what it means to be awake and watchful in the world. These are poems that probe and question, within whose nimble ecosystems we are as likely to encounter Schubert as we are "a hand of violets," Isaac Newton as a "winged quail on turf." Nothing escapes Macdonald's eye and every creature herein--from the smallest bird to the loftiest thinker--holds a significant place in her poems.
This is an unparalleled collection from one of greatest nature writers, and a poet of dazzling music and vision.
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Published: 02/02/2016
ISBN: 9780802124630
Pages: 78
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.50w x 0.70d
Review Citations: Library Journal Prepub Alert 09/01/2015 pg. 76
Publishers Weekly 01/18/2016
Library Journal 02/15/2016 pg. 107
Library Journal 09/01/2015