The Book of Men
Poems
7 December 2012
Description
“Dorianne Laux dares to parse her life through the prism of men who’ve passed through it.” —New York Times
Dorianne Laux’s fifth collection of poetry peels back time to the summer of love and the Vietnam War. Her keen hindsight uncovers the humanity at the center of conflict with language that goes straight to the heart. This work stands as an elegy for the loss of innocence, an homage to the glimmer underneath the urban grunge, and a love song to the imperfections that unite and divide us. Laux possesses what Tony Hoagland calls “the brave art of looking,” with an immediate and compassionate touch.
Reviews
"Laux’s superb language and use of metaphor read as insightful and effortless." — Time Out New York
"Laux at her best. She’s witty, engaging, and candid…Echoes of Whitman are everywhere in The Book of Men. Both Whitman and Laux are profoundly democratic poets. Anyone can live in their poems, and their poems can live anywhere." — The Rumpus
"[Laux is] continually engaging and, at her best, luminous." — San Diego Union-Tribune
"The Book of Men…makes us grateful once again for poetry's capacity for rescue." — B. H. Fairchild
"The poetry of Dorianne Laux is essential." — Nick Flynn
Awards
Winner — Paterson Poetry Prize, 2012
Also By: Dorianne Laux 
Life on Earth: Poems
Hardback, 2024
Pulitzer Prize finalist Dorianne Laux returns with an insightful, compassionate, and spirited volume that celebrates the imperfect miracle of humanity.
Only As the Day Is Long: New and Selected Poems
Paperback, 2020
A collection of new and selected works from a prize-winning poet known to bear compassionate and ruthless witness to the quotidian.
Only As the Day Is Long: New and Selected Poems
E Book, 2019
A collection of new and selected works from a prize-winning poet known to bear compassionate and ruthless witness to the quotidian.
Facts About the Moon: Poems
Paperback, 2007
"Laux writes gritty, tough, lyrical poems that depict the actual nature of life in the West today."—Philip Levine
The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry
Paperback, 1997
From the nuts and bolts of craft to the sources of inspiration, this book is for anyone who wants to write poetry-and do it well.
