The Undressing bookcover

The Undressing

Poems
4.9/5.0
21,000+ Reviews
Bookshop.org has the highest-rated customer service of any bookstore in the world

Description

A breathtaking volume about the violence of desire and the peace of love from celebrated poet Li-Young Lee, The Undressing is a tonic for spiritual anemia; it attempts to uncover things hidden since the dawn of the world. Short of achieving that end, these mysterious, unassuming poems investigate the human violence and dispossession increasingly prevalent around the world, and the horrors the poet grew up with as a child of refugees. Lee draws from disparate sources including the Old Testament, the Dao De Jing, and the music of the Wu-Tang Clan. While the ostensive subjects of these layered, impassioned poems are wide-ranging, their driving engine is a burning need to understand our collective human mission.

Product Details

PublisherW. W. Norton & Company
Publish DateMarch 03, 2020
Pages96
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconPaperback / softback
EAN/UPC9780393357875
Dimensions8.1 X 5.4 X 0.2 inches | 0.2 pounds
BISAC Categories: Poetry

About the Author

Li-Young Lee is a poet and translator. Lee's honors include a Lannan Literary Award, Whiting Award, PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award, I. B. Lavan Award, three Pushcart Prizes, a William Carlos Williams award, fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Academy of American Poets, and many others. He received the 2024 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for Lifetime Achievement. Lee lives in Chicago.

Reviews

[Lee's work] ground[s] the mysteries of existence in the plain imagery of the everyday.... In [The Undressing], Lee explores themes of family, memory, spirituality, love, and even violence.--Deborah Shapiro "Chicago magazine"
An important story about human nature.... [Li-Young] Lee's elegance transports us into the aspirations of yearning.--American Poetry Review "David Biespiel"
Countless gorgeous details provide, in poem after poem, distinct delights.--Dan Chiasson "The New Yorker"
Delight[s] in revelations that are holy and intimate.... [Lee's] wisdom situates itself in a fresh way.--Derek J. G. Williams "Rumpus"
Erotic.... Throughout this multilayered book, [Lee] challenges readers to think and to feel more deeply.--Elizabeth Lund "Washington Post"
Erotic, witty, and cosmic.... [Lee] presents breath-catching metaphysical equations in incantatory cadences that swing between earth and sky, flesh and holiness.-- "Booklist (starred review)"
Few poets write like Li-Young Lee, facing the biggest and broadest questions head on.... Fewer still ask these questions so well, and so movingly.--Craig Morgan Teicher "Los Angeles Times"
Li-Young Lee's first book in more than a decade was worth the wait: a heart-rending collection of poems that tackle love and violence with equal curiosity.-- "Chicago Review of Books"
Lyrical.... This volume asks us to consider the discrepancy of human perspectives.--Magdalena Kay "World Literature Today"
Passionate, pure, and enchanted.... The poet of rapture and tenderness.--Major Jackson "American Poets"

Earn by promoting books

Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.sign up to affiliate program link
Become an affiliate