All We Need Of Hell

A man whose life is coming apart at the seams finds hope from an unlikely source.

Rika Lesser through-composes her books of poems; they are not albums but unities. They are meant to be read in one sitting and can be fearfully intense. In Etruscan Things she followed the circular map of the Etruscan heavens. In All We Need of Hell she seeks to escape the locked boxes of psychiatric wards and medical categorizations. When she succeeds - and she must - it is through art to life. These poems will inevitably be compared to those by other poets who have struggled with depressive illnesses. Rarely, however, does a poet address such topics as illness, mental illness, suicide, and death as singlemindedly as Lesser does here.

"A poem is best read in the light of all the other poems ever written." So said Robert Frost in instructing readers on how to achieve poetic literacy. George Monteiro's newest book follows that dictum to enhance our understanding of Frost's most valuable poems by demonstrating the ways in which they circulate among the constellations of great poems and essays of the New England Renaissance. Monteiro reads Frost's own poetry not against "all the other poems ever written" but in the light of poems and essays by his precursors, particularly Emerson, Thoreau, and Dickinson. Familiar poems such as "Mending Wall," "After Apple-Picking," "Birches," "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," "The Road Not Taken," and "Mowing," as well as lesser known poems such as "The Draft Horse," "The Ax-Helve," "The Bonfire," "Dust of Snow," "A Cabin in the Clearing," "The Cocoon," and "Pod of the Milkweed," are renewed by fresh and original readings that show why and how these poems pay tribute to their distinguished sources. Frost's insistence that Emerson and Thoreau were the giants of nineteenth-century American letters is confirmed by the many poems, variously influenced, that derive from them. His attitude toward Emily Dickinson, however, was more complex and sometimes less generous. In his twenties he molded his poetry after hers. But later, after he joined the faculty of Amherst College, he found her to be less a benefactor than a competitor. Monteiro tells a two-stranded tale of attraction, imitation, and homage countered by competition, denigration, and grudging acceptance of Dickinson's greatness as a woman poet. In a daring move, he composes—out of Frost's own words and phrases—the talk on Emily Dickinson that Frost was never invited to give. In showing how Frost's work converses with that of his predecessors, Monteiro gives us a new Frost whose poetry is seen as the culmination of an intensely felt New England literary experience.

What to Expect When You’re Not Expected to Expect Anything Anymore Did you see the title and flame-filled cover of this book, and did your weary, sweaty, confused, and exasperated soul scream, That one! That is the book for me!!? If so, I’d first like to extend my deepest sympathies, an ice pack, and some of these very helpful edibles. If it’s three in the morning as you’re reading this, as it may well be, you likely want those more than a book. But since I can’t really give you the other stuff, I can at least offer you this book. . . . Perimenopause and menopause experiences are as unique as all of us who move through them. While there’s no one-size-fits-all, Heather Corinna tells you what can happen and what you can do to take care of yourself, all the while busting pernicious myths, offering real self-care tips—the kind that won’t break the bank or your soul—and running the gamut from hot flashes to hormone therapy. With big-tent, practical, clear information and support, and inclusive of so many who have long been left out of the discussion—people with disabilities; queer, transgender, nonbinary, and other gender-diverse people; BIPOC; working class and other folks—What Fresh Hell Is This? is the cooling pillow and empathetic best friend to help you through the fire.

Although he abandoned poetry before he was twenty-one years old, and wrote for only five or six years in all, Arthur Rimbaud has had an extraordinary influence on modern poetry. His work helped inspire poetic Symbolism, Dadaism, and Surrealism. Rimbaud dreamed of re-creating life through his words. Not content merely to describe the world, he longed to reorder it through his revolutionary poetry. He rebelled against all forms of hypocrisy, as well as against conventional concepts of love, morality, religion, and art. He even dreamed of liberating women from "endless servitude." Written a century ago, A Season in Hell and The Illuminations read like the works of an avant-garde poet of today. In her Introduction dealing with Rimbaud's life and work, Enid Rhodes Peschel discusses his concept of the voyant, the poet-visionary he dreamed of becoming through a "reasoned deranging of all his senses." A Season in Hell, which combines autobiography with self-appraisal, vision and hallucination, reflects Rimbaud's tortures in trying to be a voyant. The forty-two poems of The Illuminations, kaleidoscopic evocations of a universe in continual evolution, are further evidence of his attempts to reach this transcendent state. Enid Rhodes Peschel has succeeded in not only translating these works but in recreating them. Eye, ear, mind, and heart have all been engaged in her effort to capture the tone and rhythm of Rimbaud's language as well as the quality of his thought. Book jacket.

Interweaving stories from past and present, All We Have Left brings one of the most important days in our recent history--September 11th--to life, showing that love and hope will always triumph. Now: Sixteen-year-old Jesse is used to living with the echoes of the past. Her older brother died in the September 11th attacks, and her dad since has filled their home with anger and grief. When Jesse gets caught up with the wrong crowd, one momentary hate-fueled decision turns her life upside down. The only way to make amends is to face the past, starting Jesse on a journey that will reveal the truth about how her brother died. Then: In 2001, sixteen-year-old Alia is proud to be Muslim . . . it's being a teenager that she finds difficult. After being grounded for a stupid mistake, Alia decides to confront her father at his Manhattan office, putting her in danger she never could have imagined. When the planes collide into the Twin Towers, Alia is trapped inside one of the buildings. In the final hours, she meets a boy who will change everything for her as the flames rage around them . . . A Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2016 selection