Heaven and Other Poems
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- 8,99 €
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- 8,99 €
Publisher Description
With more than 70 produced plays and many produced screenplays, playwright/director/author Israel Horovitz presents a new dimension to his creative output in Heaven and Other Poems, the 75-year-old author's first-ever authorized poetry collection. A tour-de-force of emotion, empathy and deep, melancholic beauty, Heaven and Other Poems is a stunning collection of work crafted over a lifetime. From the epic poem "Stations of the Cross" with its startling, tenderly crafted images of familial love and loss, to the punchy and pointed aphorisms of the twin "Defining the French Novel" and "Defining the American Novel" Horovitz displays a remarkable range, and—throughout—a deep understanding of humanity. As the most-produced American playwright in French theatre history, many of his poems naturally are set in France, where Horovitz often directs French-language productions of his plays. The collection is filled with surprises and special gifts, such as the never-before-published translation of one of his poems by master playwright Samuel Beckett, from whom Horovitz found thematic and stylistic inspiration for his own work. A truly inspired poetry collection, which is, in turn, truly inspiring and fulfilling to its audience.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At this point in his lengthy career, Horovitz (The Indian Wants the Bronx, Park Your Car in Harvard Yard, etc.) stands among the world's most successful living playwrights; stars from Al Pacino and Marsha Mason to James Franco got their start, or came into their own, through his work. Horovitz has written verse for decades, but has not collected it publicly until now, at age 75, and the result is a varied lot: serious autobiographical poems (including an elegy for his sister) strongly influenced by Robert Lowell; a limerick; an acrostic for Samuel Beckett; quick depictions of Paris, and of "my beloved Gloucester, Mass."; and poems about sex, about crushes, about married love, including "Our Married Life," in which the playwright and his wife become empty nesters: "Amazed, we cling face to face/ To face a single Destiny/ That paired us and prepares us/ For this parting." Horovitz can be grave, or light-hearted, about advancing years, "amid constant battle/ With human inequalities/ Such as snow and cellulite." Horovitz's talent with plots and actors exceeds his talent with the subtleties of a verse line. These poems would likely not receive much attention were Horovitz not otherwise known, but he is and attention may come from the many readers who have enjoyed his plays.
