Filled with wry logic and a magical, unpredictable musicality, Kay Ryan's poems continue to generate excitement with their frequent appearances in The New Yorker and other leading periodicals. Say Uncle, Ryan's fifth collection, is filled with the same hidden connections, the same slyness and almost gleeful detachment that has delighted readers of her earlier books. Compact, searching, and oddly beautiful, these poems, in the words of Dana Gioia, "take the shape of an idea clarifying itself." "A poetry collection that ...
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Filled with wry logic and a magical, unpredictable musicality, Kay Ryan's poems continue to generate excitement with their frequent appearances in The New Yorker and other leading periodicals. Say Uncle, Ryan's fifth collection, is filled with the same hidden connections, the same slyness and almost gleeful detachment that has delighted readers of her earlier books. Compact, searching, and oddly beautiful, these poems, in the words of Dana Gioia, "take the shape of an idea clarifying itself." "A poetry collection that marries wit and wisdom more brilliantly than any I know.... Poetry as statement and aphorism is rarely heartbreaking, but reading these poems I find myself continually ambushed by a fundamental sorrow, one that hides behind a surface that interweaves sound and sense in immaculately interesting ways." -- Jane Hirshfield, Common Boundary; "The first thing you notice about her poems is an elbow-to-the-ribs playfulness." -- Patricia Holt, San Francisco Chronicle.
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Add this copy of Say Uncle: Poems to cart. $11.79, like new condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Grove Press.
Add this copy of Say Uncle: Poems to cart. $11.79, good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Grove Press.
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Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
Add this copy of Say Uncle: Poems to cart. $14.47, like new condition, Sold by 8trax Media rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Mansfield, MA, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Grove Press.
Add this copy of Say Uncle (Tr) to cart. $16.34, new condition, Sold by indoo rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Avenel, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Grove Press.
Add this copy of Say Uncle to cart. $16.50, very good condition, Sold by The Haunted Bookshop rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Iowa City, IA, UNITED STATES, published 1991 by Grove Press.
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Very Good. Crisp, clean pages, if lightly age toned in margins; no owners' marks; soft cover shows a thin line of edge wear across the top rear and minor rubbing at spine ends; otherwise excellent. 76pp.
Add this copy of Say Uncle: Poems to cart. $18.00, very good condition, Sold by Arundel Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Seattle, WA, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Grove Press.
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Very Good. A stated First Edition with a complete numberline. 76pp., a clean copy in Very Good condition with slight shelfwear and slight foxing. // 'Filled with wry logic and a magical, unpredictable musicality, Kay Ryan's poems continue to generate excitement with their frequent appearances in The New Yorker and other leading periodicals. Say Uncle, Ryan's fifth collection, is filled with the same hidden connections, the same slyness and almost gleeful detachment that has delighted readers of her earlier books. Compact, searching, and oddly beautiful, these poems, in the words of Dana Gioia, 'take the shape of an idea clarifying itself. ' 'A poetry collection that marries wit and wisdom more brilliantly than any I know....Poetry as statement and aphorism is rarely heartbreaking, but reading these poems I find myself continually ambushed by a fundamental sorrow, one that hides behind a surface that interweaves sound and sense in immaculately interesting ways. '--Jane Hirshfield, Common Boundary; 'The first thing you notice about her poems is an elbow-to-the-ribs playfulness. '--Patricia Holt, San Francisco Chronicle. '--publisher.
Add this copy of Say Uncle: Poems to cart. $105.50, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from San Diego, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Grove Press.
Kay Ryan has been described as our generation's Emily Dickenson. Like Dickenson, Ryan composes her poems in very short lines and she packs dense imagery and sound into every syllable. The majority of her poems are amusing and clever, but not "light" in the sense of lacking a deeper meaning. She often takes something like an animal or a common natural or household object and compares it to the human experience, giving us a metaphysical lesson in the process. But this isn't a philosophy text. Hardly any of Ryan's poems are longer than a page and almost everyone will make you smile in recognition of some basic truth.
Her internal rhymes and the sheer music of her words are a pleasure to read out loud, particularly given the fact that so much "modern" poetry seems to reject form, meter, and ends up looking more like intentionaly obscure prose. Ryan never insults her reader's intelligence; she is disciplined in her choice of language and writes for the ear as much as for the page. She is one of the best poets writing today and Say Uncle is one of her best works along with Elephant Rocks.
