The Last Good Water: Prose and Poetry, 1988-2003

Great Lakes Books Series

by Michael Delp

Michael Delp conjures with his writing the intense pull of nature on Michiganders and he allows the reader to discover―or rediscover―the marvels of life and sport amidst the Great Lakes. This collection of new work, along with some of Delp's important earlier work, will inspire anyone with a fondness for water, fishing, and Michigan's great outdoors.

Delp's writing is richly nuanced and sharply imaged with an authenticity that comes only from someone native to such experiences. His engaging portraits of Michigan, its freshwater landscapes, and their many invocations can function as metaphor for larger philosophical and ecological issues, but the first aim of The Last Good Water is to draw readers back to nature and allow them to relish its splendor. This collection is an important addition to the library of the creative, the ecocritical, and above all, the outdoorsmen and women of the Midwest.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2003

Reviews

[Linda Robinson]

I will find other Michael Delp books to read. This is a collection that covers not only decades, but writing life. And prose plus poetry. It's a thin volume shouldering time and disciplines like Atlas hoisting the planet.

I'm a paddler. Paddlers and people standing in a river are the UN and Nature Conservancy: both want sort of the same thing but go about it in different ways. One has more wardrobe than the other, for example. And more ordnance.

Both really dislike rookies in the way.

I'll find other Delp poetry to read.

[Johnathon Prather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was wandering a huge university library, not particularly looking for anything, when I came across this slim little book. So glad I decided to pick it up- it’s become one of my favorite books of all time, and certainly my favorite book of poetry.