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National Anthem
The poems in National Anthem, the fourth collection of poetry from critically-acclaimed poet and critic Kevin Prufer, are finely-studied short films about America in the 21st century. Set in an apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic world that is disturbing because it is uncannily familiar, National Anthem chronicles the aftermath of the failure of imperial vision. Allowing Rome and America to bleed into one another, Prufer masterfully weaves the threads of history into an anthem that is as intimate as it is far-reaching.
- GenresPoetry
80 pages, Paperback
First published April 30, 2008
91 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Prufer
47 books26 followersKevin Prufer's newest poetry collection, The Fears, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2023 and received the 2024 Rilke Prize. His new novel Sleepaway was published in 2024 by Acre Books. He is also the author of several other books of poetry, including The Art of Fiction (2021), How He Loved Them (2018), Churches (2014), In a Beautiful Country (2011), and National Anthem (2008), all from Four Way Books.
He's edited several volumes of poetry, including New European Poets (Graywolf Press, 2008; w/ Wayne Miller), Literary Publishing in the 21st Century (Milkweed Editions, 2016; w/ Wayne Miller & Travis Kurowski), and Into English: Poems, Translations, Commentaries (Graywolf Press, 2017; w/Martha Collins).
With Wayne Miller and Martin Rock, Prufer directs the Unsung Masters Series, a book series devoted to bringing the work of great but little known authors to new generations of readers through the annual republication of a large body of each author's work, printed alongside essays, photographs, and ephemera.
Prufer is a professor in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston and the low-residency MFA at Lesley University.
Among Prufer's awards and honors are many Pushcart prizes and Best American Poetry selections, numerous awards from the Poetry Society of America, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lannan Foundation. His poetry collection How He Loved Them was long-listed for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and received the Julie Suk Award for the best poetry book of 2018 from the American literary press.
Born in 1969 in Cleveland, Ohio, Kevin Prufer studied at Wesleyan University (BA), Hollins College (MA) and Washington University (MFA).
He's edited several volumes of poetry, including New European Poets (Graywolf Press, 2008; w/ Wayne Miller), Literary Publishing in the 21st Century (Milkweed Editions, 2016; w/ Wayne Miller & Travis Kurowski), and Into English: Poems, Translations, Commentaries (Graywolf Press, 2017; w/Martha Collins).
With Wayne Miller and Martin Rock, Prufer directs the Unsung Masters Series, a book series devoted to bringing the work of great but little known authors to new generations of readers through the annual republication of a large body of each author's work, printed alongside essays, photographs, and ephemera.
Prufer is a professor in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston and the low-residency MFA at Lesley University.
Among Prufer's awards and honors are many Pushcart prizes and Best American Poetry selections, numerous awards from the Poetry Society of America, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lannan Foundation. His poetry collection How He Loved Them was long-listed for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and received the Julie Suk Award for the best poetry book of 2018 from the American literary press.
Born in 1969 in Cleveland, Ohio, Kevin Prufer studied at Wesleyan University (BA), Hollins College (MA) and Washington University (MFA).
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 7, 2014
Is he choosing words from a poetry hat? Those vague and predictable blends that flips from the National Endowment of the Arts will perceive as most meaningful and deep?
I'm not going to go picking out the worst poems. Instead, let's turn to a random page.
Here we have We Wanted to Find America (published in Boulevard.) It starts off like this:
We wanted to find America through the gasps of snow that fell like last century's angels---
.........................................poem continues..................
Not too solid. Empty phrases, a terrible simile, reaching for something profound when there isn't any. Out of context you say? It's the first line and I'm not going to type the whole poem.
Next random poem:
Mechanical Bird (published in Field). It begins:
Hard to cut the heart from the ribcage.
..........................poem continues......................
Okay. Next.
One more random try:
Elegy: Airport (published in The New Republic)
Then there was snow
on the plane's dead wing,
over the hull that stretched like a seedpod
killing the windshield,
clogging the flaps,
dying and dying in the pall of night.
...................poem continues and I can't even get this to save with the correct (and absurd/trivial) spacing that Prufer uses in it.........
Sad to say, this is far, far better than a number of other contemporary American poets I've read lately who are "building a name" for themselves. Far better. Prufer does not, at least, fall into the hipster poetry camp---the twin Dickmans for example (thank God there aren't triplets). He does engage with history, with empire, with meaning, with downfall. He shows some technical ability as well.
So two stars? Well, there are some good lines in the poem Apocalypse, the first poem in the book---even though it starts off rough as well.
I'm not going to go picking out the worst poems. Instead, let's turn to a random page.
Here we have We Wanted to Find America (published in Boulevard.) It starts off like this:
We wanted to find America through the gasps of snow that fell like last century's angels---
.........................................poem continues..................
Not too solid. Empty phrases, a terrible simile, reaching for something profound when there isn't any. Out of context you say? It's the first line and I'm not going to type the whole poem.
Next random poem:
Mechanical Bird (published in Field). It begins:
Hard to cut the heart from the ribcage.
..........................poem continues......................
Okay. Next.
One more random try:
Elegy: Airport (published in The New Republic)
Then there was snow
on the plane's dead wing,
over the hull that stretched like a seedpod
killing the windshield,
clogging the flaps,
dying and dying in the pall of night.
...................poem continues and I can't even get this to save with the correct (and absurd/trivial) spacing that Prufer uses in it.........
Sad to say, this is far, far better than a number of other contemporary American poets I've read lately who are "building a name" for themselves. Far better. Prufer does not, at least, fall into the hipster poetry camp---the twin Dickmans for example (thank God there aren't triplets). He does engage with history, with empire, with meaning, with downfall. He shows some technical ability as well.
So two stars? Well, there are some good lines in the poem Apocalypse, the first poem in the book---even though it starts off rough as well.
July 6, 2008
Prufer revisits many of the themes in Fallen from a Chariot, his previous volume, but this time the voice calls overwhelmingly for deliverance from the horrors of the empire and from personal loss. The title poem addresses Americans' uber-consumerism, and piled on the numerous poems of war and death, our "noble" notions of adopting (read "saving") foreign children, ignoring the climate shift, etc., and the repeated images of snow and freeze and needles and pills, I would have to say the anthem is a cry for numbness.
March 31, 2021
Prufer's poetry strikes me as a hybrid between Carolyn Forché and Mark Strand. The work has Forché's global scope and concerns about atrocities throughout history and in the present day. It resembles Strand in the dream-like, sometimes nightmare-like, surrealism. As Forché and Strand are two of my favorites, Prufer is quickly becoming another favorite for me.
I was especially taken with the poem "The Enormous Parachute." Highly recommended!
I was especially taken with the poem "The Enormous Parachute." Highly recommended!
June 15, 2008
In the long tradition of "America singing" Prufer's sometimes ironic, always beautifully lyric work is a startling and unique voice. He's managed not to fall into the conversational syntax and superficial pop culture set of images that would suggest (merely) a hip self-awareness. The result instead is a book of beauty that evokes the largest themes on our political and cultural landscapes. Favorites include: "A History of the American West"; "The Excavation of the Children of the Czar"; "A Boy Like Your Mother"
February 5, 2017
I really like poetry, but I'm not going to lie, most of the time it goes right over my head. I had to read this for a creative writing class and there were a few poems I really liked, but I find this hard to rate because I have very little experience reading poetry and don't understand most of it (I wish I did).
October 17, 2008
Gorgeous, shapely poems. Prufer has an incredible command of metaphor and image. These poems have a Charles Wright-level mastery of the drop line.
May 23, 2011
This collection of poetry is the best collection of poems I've read in a while. I am so jealous of the line, the subject matter, the beauty...the way the poet makes the reader go along for the ride no matter the harshness of the subject matter. A must read. Definitely adding this to my favorites list.
February 10, 2015
Not my favorite book of poems but contains some great ones that stand out: "The Moon Is Burning", "National Anthem", "History", "The Enormous Parachute", "Kneeling Man: Paused Footage", "Cicada Shell", and "Dying Bird"
December 4, 2008
"and the doors opened for you like a coat"
many beautiful moments - some melodrama but the heart is in the right place
many beautiful moments - some melodrama but the heart is in the right place
June 14, 2009
Raw, real, award-worthy
March 18, 2014
Really like his prose style, but the disjointed form his poems tend to take are at times hard to follow. The best out of this little book was "History."
June 25, 2009
Kevin, your work is genius!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews