The Night Sky: Writings on the Poetics of Experience

by Ann Lauterbach

A collection of essays by the poet author of If in Time and HUM explores the writer's advocacy of an active engagement with language and a centrality of art in a democratic society, in a volume that also includes provocative writings on the lives and works of such figures as Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Fanny Howe.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Essays, Art, American, Philosophy, Theory

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Born and raised in New York City, Ann Lauterbach studied at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and Columbia University. Before completing her M.A. in English. she moved to London to work in publishing and art galleries. Upon her return to New York, she continued working in art galleries for a number of years. Lauterbach then began teaching writing and literature.

She is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the New York State Foundation for the Arts, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and in 1995, she was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. Lauterbach has taught at Brooklyn College, Columbia, Iowa, Princeton, and at the City College of New York and the CUNY Graduate Center. She is currently Schwab Professor of Languages and Literature at Bard College, where she has also been, since 1991, co-chair of writing in the Milton Avery School of the Arts. She is also a visiting core critic at the Yale Graduate School of the Arts.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO good. Changed how I think about poetry, art, the academy, the world (political/cultural/et al), and how all of those interact. She's a kind of female W.G. Sebald, except a bit different -- instead of interpolating grainy, processed, & hauntingly beautiful pictures, as Sebald does, she inserts quotes from texts of all kinds - literary, poetic, philosophical, criticism, theory, etc.
Read this (!), and pay special attention to her essays on Emerson and the six "Night Sky" sequences.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

It should come as no surprise that the muscularity Lauterbach brings to her prose is considerable -- having read a good amount of her poetry prior to reading this collection of her prose, I was already somewhat familiar with hey prodigious skills with the manipulation and coercion of langueg. What I was less prepared for was an all-out display of her incredible intellect, as well as a wealth of references she draws from in even the most humble essay.

The central piece in this text is the 7-part titular essay, which attempts (among other things) to answer some of the following questions: What is art good for? Why do our choices matter? Do artists (and specifically poets) truly benefit society? The result is a long winding soliloquy of the highest nature, that I found myself eager to become lost in, and far less eager to finish.

Other stand-outs include her touching piece "Remembering Joe Brainard" (one of his collages appears of the cover), various introductions given to contemporary writers (Fanny Howe, Rosemarie Waldrop, Whitman and Emerson), and a chilling and vivid portayal of 9/11, among others. In each, the language is pitch-perfect and soaring in its rigor -- it's almost impossible not to become excited by her prose. This is one I'm going to have to read and re-read for many years to come.

[Margaryta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really what I was expecting. "The Night Sky" isn't the straightforward sort of essay collection, often diverting towards the personal and meditative. I think what got to me the most was how random and overwhelming the blocks of quotes Lauterbach threw at the reader were, for unless you either know the source material or are really that invested in that particular essay in this collection, then you'll probably end up skimming several of them at later parts of the book. Still, Lauterbach had some interesting thoughts on poetry and the role of the poet which I needed to read right now and will undoubtedly need to read again in the future when I have major doubts in myself and my writing.

[atito · Rating 5 out of 5]

all the parts about america/democracy/individualism are SO shaky and i know lauterbach would tell me im ~immature~ and ~impatient~ and have not read enough ~emerson~ but! the night sky sequence! wow! willing to give in just for some brilliant sentences there

[Alycia · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Poetry is a culture of presence and immediacy, of gathering around, listening, exchanging, thinking aloud'

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

What? Did I get anything out of this? Probably. But what?

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book and I had some great afternoons over the winter break.