Woman Police Officer in Elevator

by James Lasdun

"American readers who want to see rejuvenated form in untroubled action, giving brisk shape to contemporary and classical events, will find it in Lasdun." ―Helen Vendler With this, his second collection of poetry, James Lasdun consolidates his reputation as a writer of rich, emotionally charged poems of utter virtuosity. The poems in this book concern themselves with transformations, dislocations, and metamorphoses. Vividly rendered landscapes from Tuscany to New Jersey evolve into meditations on love, myth, and sexual and social politics. Woman Police Officer in Elevator is a rigorous and compelling mix of the classical and the cosmopolitan.

82 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

James Lasdun was born in London and now lives in upstate New York. He has published two novels as well as several collections of short stories and poetry. He has been long-listed for the Man Booker Prize and short-listed for the Los Angeles Times, T. S. Eliot, and Forward prizes in poetry; and he was the winner of the inaugural U.K./BBC Short Story Prize. His nonfiction has been published in Harper’s Magazine, Granta, and the London Review of Books.

Reviews

[Pachyderm Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some readers may enjoy this second collection of overly pretentious and overly presumptuous poetry offerings by James Lasdun. I didn't.

[Zach Freeman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I checked this book of poetry out because I have really enjoyed Lasdun's books and short stories. Unfortunately I did not feel the same way about his poetry. Where his remote and seemingly detached way of writing emotion works so well in prose I found it off-putting in his poetry and this collection didn't reach me at all. I'll stick to his novels.