Singularities (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

For my money, this is the best of Howe's unique, individual books. Influenced by the 'Language' poets and yet standing aloof from them, Susan Howe has, over the years, been the originator of a startling, spare and wholly American brand of poetry. Digging deep into history (especially Colonial American history) and armed with the scrap, the fragment, the materiality of language itself, Howe uses the page as a canvas for her word-constructions, sometimes spilling phrases across the white space as if pouring cut-up history books out of a hat. The work is, of course, never so random as that. In fact, I suspect Howe has a definite reason for each detail of her structures. While readers of more popular poetry, Billy Collins for instance, may find this work obscure, more adventurous readers will find it continually engaging.

I love the way Susan Howe dramatizes American history, and she is at the top of her game in this collection!

It's hard to believe so much intensity of word can be found in a slim volume of poetry, but Susan Howe here creates a magical world populated by a non-stop series of singularly perceptive lines. Those not familiar with her work will find a startling ability to capture meaning in disparate ways. Her complete power over words as objects can jar your senses into new meaning.

elevated by time distance distance and more distance-- dogma is pristine history is pristine therefore... I couldn't find any mention of Romance Novels or Safeway in the book. American History? Plenty of "original" history. O.J. Simpson is not original history according to this book. Ask yourself what would be excluded by this book. Ask yourself this of any writing. American History? Pre-revolution. It begins at the beginning. Where am I? Here. The book is there. American history. Vietnamese-American history? hardly. Ask what gets excluded.