What do you think?
Rate this book
The Nerve: Poems – A Haunting and Powerful Collection Exploring the Strangeness and Splendor of American Life and Legend
A haunting and powerful collection, The Nerve captures the strangeness and splendor of America in the twenty-first century. Glyn Maxwell's characters include FBI agents, the Californian "wild child" Genie, a man who holds his own funeral, and women writing love letters to men on Death Row. From college football games to television weather reports, from hayrides to hunting tragedies, Maxwell's brilliant lyrics and narratives explore American life and legend.
- GenresPoetry
58 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2002
About the author
Glyn Maxwell
54 books46 followersGlyn Maxwell is a poet and playwright. He has also written novels, opera libretti, screenplay and criticism.
His nine volumes of poetry include The Breakage, Hide Now, and Pluto, all of which were shortlisted for either the Forward or T. S. Eliot Prizes, and The Nerve, which won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He was one of the original ‘New Generation Poets’ in 1993, along with Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy and Don Paterson. His poetry has been published in the USA since 2000. His Selected Poems, One Thousand Nights and Counting, was published on both sides of the Atlantic in 2011. He has a long association with Derek Walcott, who taught him in Boston in the late 1980s, and whose Selected Poems he edited in 2014.
On Poetry, a guidebook for the general reader, was published by Oberon in their Masters Series in 2012. It was described by Hugo Williams in The Spectator as ‘a modern classic’ and by Adam Newey in The Guardian as ‘the best book about poetry I’ve ever read.’
Fifteen of Maxwell’s plays have been staged in London and New York, including Liberty at Shakespeare’s Globe, The Lifeblood at Riverside Studios, and The Only Girl in the World at the Arcola, as well as work at the Almeida, Theatre 503, Oxford Playhouse, the Hen and Chickens, and RADA. He has written extensively for the Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre in Chester.
His opera libretti include The Firework Maker’s Daughter (composer David Bruce) which was shortlisted for ‘Best New Opera’ at the Oliviers in 2014, Seven Angels (Luke Bedford) inspired by Paradise Lost, and The Lion’s Face (Elena Langer), a study of dementia. All of these were staged at the Royal Opera House and toured the UK.
He is currently working on a screen adaptation of Henry James’s The Beast in the Jungle for the Dutch director Clara Van Gool.
His nine volumes of poetry include The Breakage, Hide Now, and Pluto, all of which were shortlisted for either the Forward or T. S. Eliot Prizes, and The Nerve, which won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He was one of the original ‘New Generation Poets’ in 1993, along with Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy and Don Paterson. His poetry has been published in the USA since 2000. His Selected Poems, One Thousand Nights and Counting, was published on both sides of the Atlantic in 2011. He has a long association with Derek Walcott, who taught him in Boston in the late 1980s, and whose Selected Poems he edited in 2014.
On Poetry, a guidebook for the general reader, was published by Oberon in their Masters Series in 2012. It was described by Hugo Williams in The Spectator as ‘a modern classic’ and by Adam Newey in The Guardian as ‘the best book about poetry I’ve ever read.’
Fifteen of Maxwell’s plays have been staged in London and New York, including Liberty at Shakespeare’s Globe, The Lifeblood at Riverside Studios, and The Only Girl in the World at the Arcola, as well as work at the Almeida, Theatre 503, Oxford Playhouse, the Hen and Chickens, and RADA. He has written extensively for the Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre in Chester.
His opera libretti include The Firework Maker’s Daughter (composer David Bruce) which was shortlisted for ‘Best New Opera’ at the Oliviers in 2014, Seven Angels (Luke Bedford) inspired by Paradise Lost, and The Lion’s Face (Elena Langer), a study of dementia. All of these were staged at the Royal Opera House and toured the UK.
He is currently working on a screen adaptation of Henry James’s The Beast in the Jungle for the Dutch director Clara Van Gool.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 2, 2018
"Playground Song" and "Snow Village" wrote themselves with unmatched tonal quality without compromising the necessity of narrative and imagery; they placed children in the perspective and in self-interrogation. "The Paving Stones" and "Likes and Dislikes" suffice for glorious tributes to loves lost and stories won over, tributes that attempt to ruminate rather than enumerate. "Blindfold" and "A Hunting Man" entangle the readers in the painful yet fulfilling process of doing the puzzle with pieces of paradox and alliteration. Rest assured that Glyn Maxwell has laid out for us American lore and life with truthfulness heightened by musical delight. I did not see any humor or satire as prejudiced by other readers; only struggles and sadness emanate in every line, in every poem
November 8, 2024
incredible
April 13, 2015
“It had rolled
by then, that wagon. I could see its pale
brown halted speck from the highway, as if hell
were littleness, and they were being told.”
3.5 stars.
I would consider this one of the better collections of poetry I’ve recently come across: it’s also very short, so good for a difficult reading period. It contains heavy use of visual imagery, and good enough diction to suit being read aloud.
Nature and modern society are combined as subjects, and it focuses on the significance behind small details and observations, usually in the seemingly mundane (so would recommend if all that appeals – it’s quite unusual, at least based on my experience, but I don’t read a lot of American poetry). Overall it’s a solid collection and better than a lot of the more well-known modern poetry I’ve read.
by then, that wagon. I could see its pale
brown halted speck from the highway, as if hell
were littleness, and they were being told.”
3.5 stars.
I would consider this one of the better collections of poetry I’ve recently come across: it’s also very short, so good for a difficult reading period. It contains heavy use of visual imagery, and good enough diction to suit being read aloud.
Nature and modern society are combined as subjects, and it focuses on the significance behind small details and observations, usually in the seemingly mundane (so would recommend if all that appeals – it’s quite unusual, at least based on my experience, but I don’t read a lot of American poetry). Overall it’s a solid collection and better than a lot of the more well-known modern poetry I’ve read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews