New And Selected Poems: 1962-2012 Hardcover – March 26, 2013

I have loved this poet since the 1980s. What makes him so incredible is that he can pierce to the deepest part of a moment - a seemingly simple or common instant - and make it brilliant with fresh ideas. It's like he has a gift for connecting parts of the reader's brain that are new and untried. This great collection goes back to all his published volumes of poetry, including my favorite from his early work, "Charon's Cosmology." This poem captures why I love Simic:"With only his dim lanternTo tell him where he isAnd every time a mountainOf fresh corpses to load upTake them to the other sideWhere there are plenty moreI'd say by now he must be confusedAs to which side is whichI'd say it doesn't matterNo one complains he's gotTheir pockets to go throughIn one a crust of bread in another a sausageOnce in a long while a mirrorOr a book which he throwsOverboard into the dark riverSwift and cold and deep."The book ends with new poems, and it's great to see this master hasn't lost a step. He is still making those new connections in the gray matter - illuminating things for the reader so that simple things are seen clearly - but in new ways.

Prompt delivery. Excellent condition as advertised.

Reading Charles Simic is like running into Jack Reacher. The languages is hard, implacable, with no wriggle room.And even when you know it's coming, no matter how you've planted your feet, the elbow to the sternum simply takesyour breath away. If there's a better poet writing in English today, I don't know of him or her.

This covers the highlights of the majority of Simic's career--his themes and dark humor are consistent throughout, although his language gets richer as he ages. The book itself is a nicely produced hardcover, although the font layout can be slightly frustrating. It's a great introductory collection with a balance of representation from his works.

These poems are delightful, but this is not the kind of book I read cover to cover. I dip into as needed until I find the gem that satisfieds.

Very nice book, but I expected it to be! Happy to be right!

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The best book of poems I've read in decades, maybe ever. I must have dogeared 40% of the pages.