Hailed as "indispensable" (David Wojahn), Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Stephen Dunn masterfully shifts between the metaphysical and the ironic, never wavering in his essential honesty. His graceful poems confront our contradictions with tenderness and wit, enliven the ordinary with penetrating observation, and alert us to the haunting wonders and relationships that surround us.

The Not Yet Fallen World draws from all nineteen of Stephen Dunn's crystalline volumes, including his most recent, Pagan Virtues (2019); the National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist Loosestrife (1996); and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Different Hours (2000). By turns sardonic and profound, Dunn examines the disguises we don to hide from ourselves and reveals sublime beauty hidden within seemingly mundane interactions. Nine new poems extend the poet's inquiry into the paradoxes of contemporary life; as he writes in "Love Poem Near the End of the World," "Something keeps me holding on / to a future I didn't think possible."

Arranged to further Dunn's signature themes-mortality, morality, and the roles we play in the essential human comedy of getting through each day-this final collection captures the breadth of an acclaimed poet's achievement. His legacy is a poetic expanse suffused with fearless generosity and perceptive wisdom.

About the Author
Stephen Dunn (1939-2021) was the author of nineteen poetry collections, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Different Hours. He was a distinguished professor emeritus at Richard Stockton University and received an Academy Award in Literature, among many other honors.

Reviews
"Stephen Dunn's poems remind us that honesty begins at home, with a determination to struggle against self-deception, to discover what one really thinks and feels beneath what may be expected and approved...This collection gathered from a lifetime of writing makes clear how distinct a voice Dunn has created, and how coherent, important, and moving his accomplishment." -- Carl Dennis



Book Information
ISBN 9780393882254
Author Stephen Dunn
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 495g
Dimensions(mm) 239mm * 160mm * 23mm