In his first book as the poet laureate of Illinois, Kevin Stein shoulders an array of poetic forms, blending pathos, humor, and social commentary. These poems--ranging from meditative narratives to improvisational lyrics--explore art's capacity to embody as well as express contemporary culture. Stein embraces subjects as various as his father's death, magazine sex surveys, Kandinsky's theory of art, the dangling modifier, Jimi Hendrix's flaming guitar, racial bigotry, and a teacher's comments on a botched poem. Presiding over this miscellany are ghosts of a peculiarly American garden of dreamers and beloved misfits, those redeemed and those left fingering the locked gate.


About the Author
Kevein Stein is Illinois Poet Laureate and the Caterpillar Professor of English at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. He is the author of the poetry collections A Circus of Want, Bruised Paradise, and Chance Ransom, as well as the critical studies James Wright: The Poetry of a Grown Man, and Poets, Worldly Acts: Public and Private History in Contemporary American Poetry.


Reviews
Recipient of a Society of Midland Authors award for poetry published in 2005 (2006).


Awards
Winner of 2006.



Book Information
ISBN 9780252072406
Author Kevin Stein
Format Paperback
Page Count 104
Imprint University of Illinois Press
Publisher University of Illinois Press
Weight(grams) 141g
Dimensions(mm) 210mm * 140mm * 10mm