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Poems
Knopf
September 2012
On Sale: September 4, 2012
112 pages
ISBN: 0307959902
EAN: 9780307959904
Kindle: B007MGSYAS
Hardcover / e-Book
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Fiction Poetry
In this wise and intimate new book, Sharon Olds tells the story of a divorce, embracing strands of love, sex, sorrow, memory, and new freedom. As she carries us through the seasons when her marriage was ending, Olds opens her heart to the reader, sharing the feeling of invisibility that comes when we are no longer standing in loveβs sight; the surprising physical bond that still exists between a couple during parting; the loss of everything from her husbandβs smile to the set of his hip; the radical change in her sense of place in the world. Olds is naked before us, curious and brave and even generous toward the man who was her mate for thirty years and who now loves another woman. As she writes in the remarkable βStagβs Leap,β βWhen anyone escapes, my heart / leaps up. Even when itβs I who am escaped from, / I am half on the side of the leaver.β Oldsβs propulsive poetic line and the magic of her imagery are as lively as ever, and there is a new range to the musicβsometimes headlong, sometimes contemplative and deep. Her unsparing approach to both pain and love makes this one of the finest, most powerful books of poetry she has yet given us.
 Media BuzzPBS News Hour - October 11, 2012
All Things Considered - September 7, 2012
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