The Courtesy

by Alan Shapiro

In this, his first book, Alan Shapiro vividly recreates some of the more memorable and poignant moments from his Jewish-American childhood, and in the process reveals his compassionate interest in the forgotten, the alienated, and the infirm. The Courtesy is an intelligent, reflective examination of the poet's own psychological history.

" The Courtesy is really an admirable it shows up the unreality of a lot of the other poetry one reads, dealing honestly and with that perversity which is a sign of thoughfulness, with the slight but heavy matter of our everyday defeats."—Michael Hoffman, Poetry Nation Review

70 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1983

About the author

Alan Shapiro (born 1952) is an American poet and professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the author of nine poetry books, including Tantalus in Love, Song and Dance, and The Dead Alive and Busy.

In addition to poetry, Alan Shapiro has also published two personal memoirs, Vigil and The Last Happy Occasion.
(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Arnie Kahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I picked this book up at a thrift shop I had no idea this book, published 36 years ago, was an early work by a well-known poet. I loved these poems about a Jewish-American boyhood as well as others about all sorts of people and places. A favorite was Sisters, a poem from the perspective of a seriously disabled man cared for, with little care, by an older sister. I'm excited about finding and reading his 11 other book of poems.