The long-awaited fourth collection by one of America's foremost poets
Pity the Beautiful
Poems
- “Gioia sounds an elegiac note as he considers lost loved ones, growing older and the daily frustrations that cause us to yearn for something more transcendent.”—Los Angeles Times
O Lord of indirection and ellipses,
ignore our prayers. Deliver us from distraction.
Slow our heartbeat to a cricket's call.
--from “Prophecy” Pity the Beautiful is Dana Gioia's first new poetry book in over a decade. Its emotional revelations and careful construction are hard won, inventive, and resilient. These new poems show Gioia's craftsmanship at its finest, its most mature, as they make music, crack wise, remember the dead, and in a long, central poem even tell ghost stories.
ignore our prayers. Deliver us from distraction.
Slow our heartbeat to a cricket's call.
--from “Prophecy” Pity the Beautiful is Dana Gioia's first new poetry book in over a decade. Its emotional revelations and careful construction are hard won, inventive, and resilient. These new poems show Gioia's craftsmanship at its finest, its most mature, as they make music, crack wise, remember the dead, and in a long, central poem even tell ghost stories.
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About the Author
Credit: Star Black
Praise
- “His finest [collection] to date . . . These poems in which sentiment is refined by technical prowess, and simple words combine to make music and meaning merge marvelously and memorably.”—Best American Poetry
- “[Gioia’s poems] speak of sin, prayers, prophecy, virtues, and grace. . . . Whatever their form, these poems have a musical quality. Ultimately, Gioia’s poems come alive and sing on the page.”—National Review
- “A slim but powerful volume infused with melancholy and hope. . . . Technically accomplished, thematically relevant, lyrically beautiful, this collection is definitely top shelf.”—The Monitor
- “Dana Gioia excels at writing poetry that is accessible to general readers. . . . [Pity the Beautiful] speaks in a relevant voice of today within the formal verse structures of the past.”—Shelf Awareness
