Book description
This volume represents, under one cover, the major work of the man whom
critics and readers have designated the authentic poet of his American
generation. For this collection, James Dickey has selected from his four
published books all those poems that reflect his truest interests and
his growth as an artist. He has added more than a score of new poems -
in effect, a new book in themselves - that have not previously been
published in volume form.
Specifically, Poems 1957-1967 contains 15 of the 24 poems that were
included in his first book, Into the Stone (1960); 25 of the 36 that
made up Drowning With Others (1962); 22 of the 24 in Helmets (1964); the
entire 22 in the National Book Award winner Buckdancer's Choice (1965);
and, under the titles Sermon and Falling, the exciting new poems
mentioned above. Seldom can the word "great" be used of the
work of a contemporary in any art. But surely it applies to the poems of
James Dickey. "Clarity, subtlety, and passion." --from the
citation for National Book Award to Buckdancer's Choice JAMES DICKEY,
born in Atlanta in 1923, is most widely known as the author of the novel
and screenplay Deliverance. He is also the author of several other
novels and fifteen books of poetry. His many honors include the National
Book Award and a Melville Cane Award for Buckdancer's Choice (1965). He
was invited to read at President Carter's inauguration in 1977, and most
recently served as Judge of the prestigious Yale Younger Poets series.
He died in 1997 in South Carolina.
