Usher
Poems
11 February 2011
Description
"Meaty, maximalist, driven by narrative, [Fairchild] stakes out an American mythos."—David Ulin, Los Angeles Times
From Manhattan to the rural Midwest—one of our most distinguished poets offers a verbal cinema of America. Employing dramatic monologues, among other forms, Usher embraces a range of subject matter and modes, from the elegiac to the comic. At its heart, however, is the long poem “Trilogy,” consisting of three interrelated dramatic monologues spoken by a circus performer, a theological student and part-time usher, and Hart Crane. A Los Angeles Times Favorite Book of 2009.
Reviews
"Fairchild's singular distinction is his ability to make people and incidents in his work more actual than any, it seems, in any other kind of writing." — Booklist
"The energetic and vivid poems of Usher are a delight . . . even those who approach poetry with trepidation will be mesmerized." — Sacramento Book Review