When: Poems - Softcover

Wormser, Baron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1889330043 ISBN 13: 9781889330044

Publisher: Sarabande Books, 1997

Synopsis

Baron Wormser is the author of three previous collections of poetry: The White Words (Houghton Mifflin, 1983), Good Trembling (Houghton Mifflin, 1985), and Atoms, Soul Music, and Other Poems (Paris Review Editions, 1989). Born and raised in Baltimore, he earned his B.A. from Johns Hopkins University, his M.A. in English from the University of California, and his M.A. in Library Service from the University of Maine. His poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in The Paris Review, The New Yorker, Harper's, The New Republic, and The Georgia Review. Currently, Wormser lives with his wife in Mercer, Maine, in their house which is powered by a two-panel solar unit and is located on forty-five acres of Maine woods. He is a Buddhist affiliated with the Kwan Um Zen school and works as a librarian for a rural school district.

"When is a mix of autobiography and good old storytelling that never forgets a basic writerly tenet: locality is the only universality. Whether the subject is Beethoven's maid hearing strange sounds, a deli waiter bemoaning his work or Wormser as a boy walking through Pikesville, Md., and imagining it's Baudelaire's Paris, the action in each poem is unique in its specific details. The insights the characters achieve, however, and the emotions they feel are universal. . . . Graced with humor, lust, and bracing
narrative momentum, Wormser's poetry presents a menagerie of wonderfully familiar strangers."-Publishers Weekly

"A steadfast characteristic of Baron Wormser's poetry is his absolute honesty. In When, . . . he puts aside any expectations of poetic prettiness to take a clear, linguistically fresh look at issues such as AIDS, Vietnam, the ethics of fast-food consumption, and the seduction of Vegas. . . . Wormser's love of the world is evident, despite the searing light that he shines upon it."-Small Press Editor's Recommended Book, Amazon.com

"The title When derives from Wormser's obsession with history. . . . This historical sense permeates his poems; it is critical to his approach to poetry. He is, in a manner of speaking, a time traveler. . . . Wormser makes references to people, objects, and events that define the time:

About this title

Review:

A steadfast characteristic of Baron Wormser's poetry is his absolute honesty. In When, winner of the 1996 Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry, he puts aside any expectations of poetic prettiness to take a clear, linguistically fresh look at issues such as AIDS, Vietnam, the ethics of fast-food consumption, and the seduction of Vegas. One of the sharpest poems, "Farmers Go Crazy Slowly," subtly reveals the societal elements behind the insanity of trying to run a farm in this century. Wormser's love of the world is evident, despite the searing light that he shines upon it.

From the Publisher:

Baron Wormser, a master of the persona poem, is well known for his empathic exploration of possible lives. His fifth collection of poetry, Mulroney & Others, includes an examination of his own life as well. His newest lyric narratives provide glimpses of his childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, as well as accounts of Vietnam vets and draft dodgers, socialites and outcasts. Loyal readers will welcome Wormser's trademark poise, the elegant balance he achieves with understatement both metrically deft and intellectually intricate. These poems prove Anas Nin's insight that "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." Wormser's invitation to engage ourselves in seeing is irresistible, especially as he models the process with such impassioned interest. "'I know,' everyone is saying at once/To one another and the word-riddled universe. . . ." he writes. His poems tempt us to trade the obscurity of facile assumption for the powerful illumination of wonder. In Wormser's words, the universe is irrefutably personal.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sarabande Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1889330043
• ISBN 13: 9781889330044
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 96