How They Fell (Notable Voices) - Tapa blanda

"A fiery intelligence, at times a fury, empower this remarkable book. After invoking the ancient sibyl, the poems, as if crossing a stony threshold, enter a communal space, the voice deepening into another register--one resonant with an older world, in touch with what is feral in us, where the erotic and the demonic meet, "and the weight falling, and lightness rising, and pain/and honey mixed--." These are beautiful, fearless poems, their language equal to the most fearsome occasions."--Eleanor Wilner

A fiery intelligence, at times a fury, empower this remarkable book. After invoking the ancient sibyl, the poems, as if crossing a stony threshold, enter a communal space, the voice deepening into another register one resonant with an older world, in touch with what is feral in us, where the erotic and the demonic meet, and the weight falling, and lightness rising, and pain/and honey mixed . These are beautiful, fearless poems, their language equal to the most fearsome occasions. Eleanor Wilner"

From first to last, How They Fell is a stunning collection; Boutelle s is a voice the reader trusts the music unfolding syllable by syllable, the craft impeccable, and the poems bold, wise, sensual. There s vision here, and love for the world that was, and the world that is the poet asking the reader to contemplate who / we might have been, or who dreamed / us up... / and who / were we, and what might not be left? She reminds us how silly / to think the mask could hold. / But sweet let s not discount / the sweetness. How They Fell is a book to savor, to celebrate to come back to over and over. Carol Potter"

How They Fell reminds us that as soon as we are born we are plummeting toward a mortal end. This book, however, brims with an artistic exhilaration and vitality to our bewildering losses and regret-filled sorrows. . . .Annie Boutelle thrills us with a nuanced and profoundly self-reliant exploration of an idea from which we so often avert our eyes: that death is, as Stevens wrote, the mother of beauty. Fred Marchant, author of The Looking House"

"From first to last, How They Fell is a stunning collection; Boutelle's is a voice the reader trusts--the music unfolding syllable by syllable, the craft impeccable, and the poems bold, wise, sensual. There's vision here, and love for the world that was, and the world that is--the poet asking the reader to contemplate "who / we might have been, or who dreamed / us up... / and who / were we, and what might not be left?" She reminds us "how silly / to think the mask could hold. / But sweet--let's not discount / the sweetness." How They Fell is a book to savor, to celebrate to come back to over and over."--Carol Potter

"How They Fell reminds us that as soon as we are born we are plummeting toward a mortal end. This book, however, brims with an artistic exhilaration and vitality to our bewildering losses and regret-filled sorrows. . . .Annie Boutelle thrills us with a nuanced and profoundly self-reliant exploration of an idea from which we so often avert our eyes: that death is, as Stevens wrote, the mother of beauty."--Fred Marchant, author of The Looking House

In How They Fell, Boutelle's poems combine fantasy and reality in a far-reaching series of contexts: a Scottish girlhood, Adam and Eve's experiences when they are expelled from the Garden, the love between a man and a woman, and horrific events in both Scotland and London. The point of view of the poems is often personal and vulnerable, but there is a strong humorous strain, as in the description of the Pope's toothpaste and Her Majesty's hairdresser. The work is eclectic beyond description, but hangs together by the common thread of emotions experienced.