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God Particles: Poems
God Particles displays the distinctive originality and unpredictability that prompted the Washington Post Book World to name Lux one of this generation’s most gifted poets. A satiric edge, tempered by profound compassion, cuts through many of the poems in Lux’s book. While themes of intolerance, inhumanity, loss, and a deep sense of mortality mark these poems, a lighthearted grace instills even the somberest moments with unexpected sweetness. In the title poem Lux writes, “there’s no reason for God to feel guilt / I think He was downhearted, weary, too weary / to be angry anymore . . . / He wanted each of us, / and all the things we touch . . . / to have a tiny piece of Him / though we are unqualified, / of even the crumb of a crumb.” Dark, humorous, and strikingly imaginative, this is Lux’s most compassionate work to date.
- GenresPoetry
80 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
8 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Lux
86 books24 followersAcclaimed poet and teacher Thomas Lux began publishing haunted, ironic poems that owed much to the Neo-surrealist movement in the 1970s. Critically lauded from his first book Memory’s Handgrenade (1972), Lux’s poetry has gradually evolved towards a more direct treatment of immediately available, though no less strange, human experience. Often using ironic or sardonic speakers, startlingly apt imagery, careful rhythms, and reaching into history for subject matter, Lux has created a body of work that is at once simple and complex, wildly imaginative and totally relevant. Lux is vocal about the tendency in contemporary poetry to confuse “difficulty” with “originality.” In an interview with Cerise Press, Lux stated: “There’s plenty of room for strangeness, mystery, originality, wildness, etc. in poems that also invite the reader into the human and alive center about which the poem circles.” Known for pairing humor with sharp existentialism, Lux commented in the Los Angeles Times, "I like to make the reader laugh—and then steal that laugh, right out of the throat. Because I think life is like that, tragedy right alongside humor."
Born in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1946 to working class parents, Lux attended Emerson College and the University of Iowa. Lux’s first collections, including Memory’s Handgrenade and Sunday: Poems (1979), were grounded in the Neo-Surrealist techniques of contemporaries like James Tate and Bill Knott. Contemporary Poets contributor Richard Damashek wrote that Lux’s early work was "intensely personal…tormented and tortured, full of complex and disjointed images reflecting an insane and inhospitable world." Such early Lux’s poems were often portraits of a “solo native…always strange to the world," observed Elizabeth Macklin in Parnassus, "always on the verge of extradition, always beset with allergies to the native element, 'like a simple vase not tolerating water.'" With Half Promised Land (1986), Lux began the turn that characterizes much of his later work. The book foregoes many of the surrealist techniques of Sunday and focuses instead on an increasingly careful and accurate depiction of the real world. In later books like The Drowned River (1990) and the Kingsley-Tufts award winning Split Horizon (1994), Lux utilizes a conversational tone to describe what one reviewer called the “invisible millions” populating the poems. Describing his own progress in an interview with the Cortland Review, he said: “I kind of drifted away from Surrealism and the arbitrariness of that. I got more interested in subjects, identifiable subjects other than my own angst or ennui or things like that. I got better and better, I believe, at the craft. I paid more and more attention to the craft. Making poems rhythmical and musical and believable as human speech and as distilled and tight as possible is very important to me. I started looking outside of myself a lot more for subjects. I read a great deal of history, turned more outward as opposed to inward.”
Lux’s other collections include New and Selected Poems: 1975-1995 (1997), The Street of Clocks (2001), The Cradle Place (2004) and God Particles (2008), a collection Elizabeth Hoover described as “lucid and morally urgent” in the Los Angeles Times. Thomas Lux taught at Sarah Lawrence for over twenty years and is affiliated with the Warren Wilson MFA program; currently the Bourne chair in poetry at the Georgia Institute of Technology, he is a renowned teacher. In the Cortland Review interview, he described teaching’s greatest rewards: “you see people get excited by poetry. You see their lives changed by poetry. You see someone beginning to learn how to articulate and express themselves in this very tight art form, in this very distilled manner. You see all sorts and hear all sorts of really human stuff, really human business.” His many awards and honors include the Kinglsley Tufts Poetry Award, a Guggenheim fel
Born in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1946 to working class parents, Lux attended Emerson College and the University of Iowa. Lux’s first collections, including Memory’s Handgrenade and Sunday: Poems (1979), were grounded in the Neo-Surrealist techniques of contemporaries like James Tate and Bill Knott. Contemporary Poets contributor Richard Damashek wrote that Lux’s early work was "intensely personal…tormented and tortured, full of complex and disjointed images reflecting an insane and inhospitable world." Such early Lux’s poems were often portraits of a “solo native…always strange to the world," observed Elizabeth Macklin in Parnassus, "always on the verge of extradition, always beset with allergies to the native element, 'like a simple vase not tolerating water.'" With Half Promised Land (1986), Lux began the turn that characterizes much of his later work. The book foregoes many of the surrealist techniques of Sunday and focuses instead on an increasingly careful and accurate depiction of the real world. In later books like The Drowned River (1990) and the Kingsley-Tufts award winning Split Horizon (1994), Lux utilizes a conversational tone to describe what one reviewer called the “invisible millions” populating the poems. Describing his own progress in an interview with the Cortland Review, he said: “I kind of drifted away from Surrealism and the arbitrariness of that. I got more interested in subjects, identifiable subjects other than my own angst or ennui or things like that. I got better and better, I believe, at the craft. I paid more and more attention to the craft. Making poems rhythmical and musical and believable as human speech and as distilled and tight as possible is very important to me. I started looking outside of myself a lot more for subjects. I read a great deal of history, turned more outward as opposed to inward.”
Lux’s other collections include New and Selected Poems: 1975-1995 (1997), The Street of Clocks (2001), The Cradle Place (2004) and God Particles (2008), a collection Elizabeth Hoover described as “lucid and morally urgent” in the Los Angeles Times. Thomas Lux taught at Sarah Lawrence for over twenty years and is affiliated with the Warren Wilson MFA program; currently the Bourne chair in poetry at the Georgia Institute of Technology, he is a renowned teacher. In the Cortland Review interview, he described teaching’s greatest rewards: “you see people get excited by poetry. You see their lives changed by poetry. You see someone beginning to learn how to articulate and express themselves in this very tight art form, in this very distilled manner. You see all sorts and hear all sorts of really human stuff, really human business.” His many awards and honors include the Kinglsley Tufts Poetry Award, a Guggenheim fel
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 12, 2022
I can't believe I've only just discovered this guy. He has made me excited about poetry again and I can't wait to read more of his collections.
July 24, 2024
"apology to my neighbors for beheading their duck" astounded me with its line-by-line accretion of meaning, kinda like a picture coming into focus. it's also quite funny, and made me want to read the rest of the collection.
as the collection title suggests, the imagery of god particles skews christian, but lux seems more interested in the human experience of biblical characters than in theology. more surprising was his unadorned portrayal of violence, which didn't speak to me but did change my expectations of what poetry can be about. i preferred the poems that encapsulate specific feelings aroused by specific situations that i hadn't previously seen expressed in writing.
as the collection title suggests, the imagery of god particles skews christian, but lux seems more interested in the human experience of biblical characters than in theology. more surprising was his unadorned portrayal of violence, which didn't speak to me but did change my expectations of what poetry can be about. i preferred the poems that encapsulate specific feelings aroused by specific situations that i hadn't previously seen expressed in writing.
February 16, 2017
I'm re-reading the poems of Thomas Lux in the wake of his surprise passing. Like all Lux books, this one captures his quirky and free-ranging intellect, his ironic emotional stance, and his sometimes humorous and often wise phrasing.
December 6, 2010
Lux is Lux, the great poet, and overall another great book. However, there were some interesting moments where Lux got away with things because he is Lux. For instance, Lux starts out with a really sweet poem expressing gratitude for a friend. Yes, it’s a solid poem, but could a less established poet really start a book with a straight-forward thank you poem that doesn’t really exhibit a uniqueness in style or have a specific catch? Sometimes it seems like either he or his editor or both aren’t asking his poems the hard questions. Is that line really necessary? Is that an idea that you want to say, but that your poem doesn’t? The phrase “who would bow/ for long to such a crippled /wheel?” in “Hitler’s Slippers” (6) just doesn’t sit right. I like the idea of it being a crippled wheel, but the rest feels too preachy. In “Stink Eye:” (9), Lux ends the poem with a bit of a cliché that has already been said (in a better and more subtle way) earlier in the poem. Cut it! In another case, we find that the lines “I spoke to an exterminator/ once who said he’d poison/ birds but he didn’t want me/ to write about it.” (16) rest more on the merit of Lux being a well-reknowned poet than in their utility to the poem itself.
Nit-picky points aside, it is a great collection of poems that does fine on its own merit. We get tastes of marvelous surrealist existences such as in “The Lead Hour” (10) and we experience Lux’s playful and sinister humor. Perhaps somewhat different from other of Lux’s recent work, this book had a strong God/Jesus/religion motif, as the title of the book suggests. As a reader I didn’t feel that Lux was telling us what to think, but rather exploring these concepts. I love the poem “God Particles” (27) for the God images and feelings it provides as well as the lingering thoughts it provokes.
My verdict is that you should definitely go out and read it, or at least go out and read something by Lux. He has a clever and creative voice that deserves to be heard.
Nit-picky points aside, it is a great collection of poems that does fine on its own merit. We get tastes of marvelous surrealist existences such as in “The Lead Hour” (10) and we experience Lux’s playful and sinister humor. Perhaps somewhat different from other of Lux’s recent work, this book had a strong God/Jesus/religion motif, as the title of the book suggests. As a reader I didn’t feel that Lux was telling us what to think, but rather exploring these concepts. I love the poem “God Particles” (27) for the God images and feelings it provides as well as the lingering thoughts it provokes.
My verdict is that you should definitely go out and read it, or at least go out and read something by Lux. He has a clever and creative voice that deserves to be heard.
April 28, 2024
Thomas lux is indeed genius. He has developed a style that is wholly unique and identifiable. This collection is a little lighter on the oddball-moments-in-history material that he has become known for (which may make his proclamation against this kind of "dour study" in his poem "Debate Regarding the Permissibility of Eating Mermaids" in The Cradle Place a kind of benchmark in his career), but a lot else that identifies Lux's work is to be found here--his ability to set premise and explore (like "The Republic of Anasthesia" and one of my favorites in this collection, "The Utopian Wars"), his tenderness towards others ("The Gentleman Who Spoke Like Music"), his intrigue with the ramifications of violence ("Invective") as well as his humor ("Apology to My Neighbors for Beheading Their Duck") and even the occasional treatise on the nature of poetry ("The First Song"). As ever, Lux is thoughtful and creates poetic worlds that pursue a dream-like logic. Like his brother from another mother, Stephen Dobyns, Lux creates off-putting situations but often brings them around to familiar territory, which is simply the constancy of the human soul to be barbaric and sweet. This is a collection to read not in order but haphazardly, letting each poem stand in its own muddy water rather to look at as a train.
But enough stupid metaphors. Lux is an exquisite read, though I did find that the collection was overall a little too controlled, a little too well thought out--the result of this is that too few poems take the kind of amazing and dangerous leaps like he did in poems like "Wife Hits Moose." An average Lux poem beats the tar out of many contemporaries on a cloudy day, so I still recommend this collection highly, but isn't quote the kind of collection that will instill the awe that Lux is due.
But enough stupid metaphors. Lux is an exquisite read, though I did find that the collection was overall a little too controlled, a little too well thought out--the result of this is that too few poems take the kind of amazing and dangerous leaps like he did in poems like "Wife Hits Moose." An average Lux poem beats the tar out of many contemporaries on a cloudy day, so I still recommend this collection highly, but isn't quote the kind of collection that will instill the awe that Lux is due.
February 6, 2011
The cover jacket says this book displays the "distinctive originality and unpredictability" that prompted the Washing Post Book World to name Lux as one of this generation's most gifted poets. By "distinctive" originality, I am struck immediately by titles which string unusual conceits to lure in the reader, such as "The Harmonic Scalpel" or "The Republic of Anesthesia or "Her Hat, That Party on Her Head. "Unpredictability" starts with the two epigrams to the book:
a line from John Donne (Holy Sonnet 19) ("oh to vex me, contraries meet in one" and the sad line by Emerson at Longfellow's funeral, which reminds me of something my father (who had the privilege of teaching with Longfellow's granddaughter at the Shady Hill School) would say, admitting to memory loss.
It is clear that Lux is well-read, and enjoys dropping references ("Nolens Volens"' "Antinomianism" ) sometimes for the fun of the music, feel of the spoken word, sometimes for the fun of invention ("Vaticide", "Autobiographophobia"). His assertions and leaps, whether diving from the title to continue a line,
or inviting the reader to enter a parenthesis, are filled with "things of this world" presented with a range of tone -- satiric, endearing, surreal, glib, somber.
At first, I sensed the poems skating on the surface of something much deeper, but each new reading reveals a dance, which touches on the round of universals announced in the title.
a line from John Donne (Holy Sonnet 19) ("oh to vex me, contraries meet in one" and the sad line by Emerson at Longfellow's funeral, which reminds me of something my father (who had the privilege of teaching with Longfellow's granddaughter at the Shady Hill School) would say, admitting to memory loss.
It is clear that Lux is well-read, and enjoys dropping references ("Nolens Volens"' "Antinomianism" ) sometimes for the fun of the music, feel of the spoken word, sometimes for the fun of invention ("Vaticide", "Autobiographophobia"). His assertions and leaps, whether diving from the title to continue a line,
or inviting the reader to enter a parenthesis, are filled with "things of this world" presented with a range of tone -- satiric, endearing, surreal, glib, somber.
At first, I sensed the poems skating on the surface of something much deeper, but each new reading reveals a dance, which touches on the round of universals announced in the title.
July 4, 2009
I have mixed feelings about this collection of poems. It's separated into three sections, with many shorter poems included. Some of them aren't as funny as they're intended to be (I happen to like semicolons and dislike colons and exclamation points, and Lux never uses the former but always uses the latter), and many just aren't poignant enough to warren poetic topics, I think.
However, clearly Lux has a good ear and can write some really good lines. One of my favorite poems was, in fact, the title poem, and the rest mainly fall within the second section of the book. I can't really figure out how the three sections logically fit together, but I'm willing to read along anyway (although I was, at times, skimming).
One things I truly dislike is a poem that uses the title as its first line. And I don't meant that the title and first line are the same (I'm fine with that), but the title actually leads into the first "line" of the poem. And maybe 1/4 or 1/3 of Lux's poems do that, including the first one--which is especially awkward, as there's a dedication literally between the title and that "first" line, which makes for some difficult reading very early on.
Still, I prefer the length of these poems, and at times they surprise me when they travel to unexpected places as they conclude. I have to read more by Lux to judge how indicative this is of his work in general.
However, clearly Lux has a good ear and can write some really good lines. One of my favorite poems was, in fact, the title poem, and the rest mainly fall within the second section of the book. I can't really figure out how the three sections logically fit together, but I'm willing to read along anyway (although I was, at times, skimming).
One things I truly dislike is a poem that uses the title as its first line. And I don't meant that the title and first line are the same (I'm fine with that), but the title actually leads into the first "line" of the poem. And maybe 1/4 or 1/3 of Lux's poems do that, including the first one--which is especially awkward, as there's a dedication literally between the title and that "first" line, which makes for some difficult reading very early on.
Still, I prefer the length of these poems, and at times they surprise me when they travel to unexpected places as they conclude. I have to read more by Lux to judge how indicative this is of his work in general.
January 6, 2010
How does one comment on a book of poetry. My friend discovered this one and loanend me her inter library borrowed book. My favorits were:
(1)The first in the book: The Gentleman who spoke like Music. I knew such a man. He was my first professor in college. He was of Irish decent and when he read to us, I would very nearly swoon!
(2) The General Law of Oblivion.
(3) Her Hat, That Party on her head.
(4) Eyes scooped Out and Replaced by Hot Coals. Warning if ou are of majority age, do not admit that ou have never read Moby Dick in his presence!!
(5) The Ambrosiana Library
(6) Autobiographobia
(7) The last in the book and a very pleasant place to part company.
A clearing, A Meadow in Deep Forest.
I look forward to reading more of the work of Thomas Lux
(1)The first in the book: The Gentleman who spoke like Music. I knew such a man. He was my first professor in college. He was of Irish decent and when he read to us, I would very nearly swoon!
(2) The General Law of Oblivion.
(3) Her Hat, That Party on her head.
(4) Eyes scooped Out and Replaced by Hot Coals. Warning if ou are of majority age, do not admit that ou have never read Moby Dick in his presence!!
(5) The Ambrosiana Library
(6) Autobiographobia
(7) The last in the book and a very pleasant place to part company.
A clearing, A Meadow in Deep Forest.
I look forward to reading more of the work of Thomas Lux
Read
July 8, 2009"Every poem in God Particles is a unique social commentary laced with humor, irony and compassion. The language is, as always in Lux’s work, deft and direct, the imagery down-to-earth, and every topic has a take-no-prisoners relevancy. For those who hope to treat their fellow beings more honestly and kindly, who want to be reminded of the pitfalls of self-serving spirituality, this is a book that definitely should be read".
From a review by Sally Molini:
http://www.cerisepress.com/01/01/life...
From a review by Sally Molini:
http://www.cerisepress.com/01/01/life...
March 11, 2014
Mr. Lux never ceases to astound and delight me with his mastery of surreal landscapes and the possibilities of language. I don't always "get it," but I always want to.
This collection seems more personal than others, but I confess I am not sure how I would know. It isn't that there are so many voices, but the same voices speaking from different perspectives.
The title poem is a gem.
And speaking of gems, one should never say of Lux's poems that they are diamonds in the rough. In his world the diamonds are rough, and sometimes the rough shines.
This collection seems more personal than others, but I confess I am not sure how I would know. It isn't that there are so many voices, but the same voices speaking from different perspectives.
The title poem is a gem.
And speaking of gems, one should never say of Lux's poems that they are diamonds in the rough. In his world the diamonds are rough, and sometimes the rough shines.
October 27, 2013
I have never read a Thomas Lux poem in an anthology or journal that I didn't love. In a collection, though, the cumulative effect is a little intense. Even, dare I say, grotesque.
He's an amazing poet and one of my favorites, but from now on, when reading his poems, I plan to put weeks, at least, in between each one.
He's an amazing poet and one of my favorites, but from now on, when reading his poems, I plan to put weeks, at least, in between each one.
September 26, 2009
Superb -- funny, disturbing (frequently offensive), and strangely infused with hope. This collection somehow captures the moment in which loneliness becomes aware of its mysterious opposite, and in which loathing turns into a question.
April 4, 2008
Lux goes way out on the limb -- sometimes that makes me nervous. However, he also puts me in touch with my own odd connections, and opens up the carnivalesque in my own poetry.
July 18, 2008
When I thought my thesis had drained me, this book made me want to write again.
August 15, 2008
This was my first introduction to Thomas Lux and I really enjoyed his poems. They pay attention to language and touch on serious subjects with playfulness.
December 15, 2009
Love his poems.
Want to read
October 29, 2010NO
June 4, 2012
Thomas Lux is a fearless, no-holds bars poet. Strong and surprising.
August 22, 2013
Not my style, but that's just a matter of taste. Decidedly anti-formalist, if that's even a thing.
January 15, 2015
Light on their feet, these poems dance on the table waving a hanky to make you laugh and distract you from how well they are made (how difficult the dance). Thank you for "The Ambrosiana Library"!
May 1, 2008
The language and content is as fun and quirky as any of Lux's work.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews