The Inside of an Apple

by Joshua Beckman

"If you take a broad squint at our nation's new poets you can find two general poets who are carrying the torch, and poets who are using it to start fires. And then we have Joshua Beckman. He seems to be doing everything."—Daniel Handler, The Believer "Beckman . . . does the incredible work of writing poems full of desire, for a world in the midst of radical upheaval."— Publishers Weekly (starred review for Take It ) Joshua Beckman is at his most immediate, attentive, and available in The Inside of an Apple . Beckman's latest collection of sincere, spare poems invites the reader to experience a revelation of consciousness and a generosity of spirit. Let my still dark soul
be music. A made whistle
floating out a window
arranged. Some little thing

fell and I picked it up
and up it kept on going. Eight dead stars

make a sickle,
and the earth
is covered in grass. Joshua Beckman is the author of nine books, including collections of poetry, translations, and collaborations. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including a NYFA fellowship and a Pushcart Prize. He lives in Seattle and New York.

Genres: Poetry

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2013

About the author

Joshua Beckman was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He is the author of six books, including Take It (Wave Books, 2009), Shake and two collaborations with Matthew Rohrer: Nice Hat. Thanks. and Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty. He is an editor at Wave Books and has translated numerous works of poetry and prose, including Poker by Tomaz Salamun, which was a finalist for the PEN America Poetry in Translation Award. He is also the recipient of numerous other awards, including a NYFA fellowship and a Pushcart Prize. He lives in Seattle and New York.

For more information on this author, go to:
http://www.wavepoetry.com/authors/31-...

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like being inside a breath, the bubble of a thought. There is so much here that watches the sky, takes stars personally. The drama is in the surprise of what goes with what: heat seeking humans and lizards, small rocks and houses that hold them.
Like a sad-happy scientist's journal.

[Bud Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful poems. Quiet. Reminded me of an evolved, minimalistic Riprap by Gary Snyder (which I love and admire), or if some angelic poet laureate of heaven flew down and collaborated on lyrics with Bon Iver and this was the angel’s side.

[Matthew Hinea · Rating 5 out of 5]

there are landscapes in here that feel really bare and human at the same time

[Jeffrey Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The poems isn’t this collection brought back the fond memories of the poems interspersed by Beckman in his Bagley Wright Lectures published this year. The sparse poems seem to fill the abundant white space of each page with deep dense moments of pause. I found myself reading these poems slowly, taking in the images, the precision of words, the missing elements that needed to remain missing. I look forward to more.

[Benjamin Niespodziany · Rating 4 out of 5]

"God's cabin's a jungle." This collection is like one long haiku. Meditative, quiet, and highly observant. It will allow you the magnificence to stare at an object and see it with new eyes. "I write / of canyon rocks / and point out pretty / colored shapes / then cower in my shaking room."

[Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

reviewed this for nyu local -- http://nyulocal.com/entertainment/201...

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book of the year!