Unknown Friends

by Carl Dennis

From the winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the Ruth Lilly Prize Carl Dennis has become one of the most important American poets writing today. Unknown Friends , his tenth book, is about separation and connection, about actual friends we can never know fully and friends never met who are summoned into existence through the efforts of an imagination that insists on dialogue. While accepting our ignorance as inevitable, the poems work to expand the notion of what it means to be part of a community larger than any we can comprehend, both a community given to us by history and one outside of history through which the world of experience is nurtured and sustained.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Reviews

[Austin Bauer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read "Practical Gods," "Callings," and now "Unknown Friends." Of the three, this is by far the weakest. There are, as always, some gems, but for the most part, this book is not Dennis' best work. If you've never read Dennis, don't start here! Start with "Practical Gods."

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Admittedly skimmed this book of poems looking for gems and was not disappointed. Dennis has a very accessible style that invites the reader in and then weaves a deeper truth around, so that the subject you initially thought was on the table has deepened and broadened to a universality. For example, "Boys at Play" morphs from memory of first encountering other children of a different race to the broader reflection of growing up, loss of innocence, and the metaphorical journey that entails.

[DilanAc · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not my favorite Carl Dennis book. Dennis is trying too hard to please the reader here, make everything understood and accessible. Many of the poems feel sentimental. They don't pulse with emotion and mystery.

[Corin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5