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3.0 

How to Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons)

By Barbara Kingsolver
How to Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons) by Barbara Kingsolver digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

"A gorgeous collection. . . . These poems unplug from TV and social media and the outrage of the moment and turn our attention to the immediate and the everlasting, human intimacy and the power and mystery of nature." Tampa Bay Times

In this intimate collection, Barbara Kingsolver, beloved author of The Poisonwood Bible and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Demon Copperhead, and recipient of numerous literary awards including the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguish Contribution to American Letters, trains her eye on the everyday and the metaphysical in poems that are beautifully crafted, emotionally rich, and luminous

In her second poetry collection, Kingsolver offers reflections on the practical, the spiritual, and the wild. She begins with “how to” poems addressing everyday matters such as being hopeful, married, divorced; shearing a sheep; praying to unreliable gods; doing nothing at all; and of course, flying. Next come rafts of poems about making peace (or not) with the complicated bonds of friendship and family, and making peace (or not) with death, in the many ways it finds us. Some poems reflect on the redemptive powers of art and poetry itself; others consider where everything begins. Closing the book are poems that celebrate natural wonders—birdsong and ghost-flowers, ruthless ants, clever shellfish, coral reefs, deadly deserts, and thousand-year-old beech trees—all speaking to the daring project of belonging to an untamed world beyond ourselves.

Altogether, these are poems about transcendence: finding breath and lightness in life and the everyday acts of living. It’s all terribly easy and, as the title suggests, not entirely possible. Or at least, it is never quite finished. 

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20 Reviews

3.0
“Very prose heavy. Not quite my style but I still definitely enjoyed a couple poems. Some of the standouts that I noticed and really enjoyed were “Long Division” and “My Mother’s Last Forty Minutes”.”
“I had never read Barbara Kingsolver before, but when I saw that there was a new poetry collection from such an acclaimed writer, I figured why not give it a shot. I actually liked this a lot! It's broken up into parts, some of which I liked much more than other (e.g. loved the series of poems about going with her mother-in-law to her Italian homeland; not as into the long ode to knitting). Interesting way of using imagery and description that makes me feel that I would like her other works. At once modern and seemingly timeless. My one critique would be that I'm not sure the entire collection came together cohesively, but that doesn't bother me too much. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.”

About Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver is the author of ten bestselling works of fiction, including the novels UnshelteredThe Bean Trees, and The Poisonwood Bible, as well as books of poetry, essays, creative nonfiction, and Coyote’s Wild Home, a children’s book co-authored with Lily Kingsolver. She also collaborated with family members on the influential Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Kingsolver’s work has been translated into more than thirty languages and has earned a devoted readership at home and abroad. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and has received numerous awards and honors including the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel, Demon Copperhead, the National Humanities Medal, and most recently, the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and its Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives with her husband on a farm in southern Appalachia.

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