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Book Cover for: A Year in the Life of Death: Poems Inspired by the Obituary Pages of the New York Times, Shawn Levy

A Year in the Life of Death: Poems Inspired by the Obituary Pages of the New York Times

Shawn Levy

When Shawn Levy had the notion to write a poem each day for a year, inspired by the obituary pages of The New York Times, he had no way of knowing that the year in question, 2016, would claim so many of the world's most iconic figures. His project became, in effect, a vehicle for surveying the breadth of the twentieth century: Titans from all fields of endeavor, lives that contained one quirky but insoluble achievement, and people who had special significance in his own life. From Nancy Reagan to Muhammad Ali, David Bowie to Arnold Palmer, Prince to Janet Reno, Antonin Scalia to Mary Tyler Moore, and including a Black Miss America, an obsessive weather reporter, the nurse famously kissed by a sailor on VJ Day, the man who put the "@" in your email address, and the last man to walk on the moon, the lives recollected in these one hundred poems provoke compassion, sorrow, outrage, surprise, nostalgia, even laughter.

"This book is a wailing song, with side eye when and where you need it. These poems are a resuscitation of art and heart." --Lidia Yuknavitch, author of Verge

"... a staggering symphony of lives, with parallels to Michael Lesy's Wisconsin Death Trip and Jim Carroll's 'People Who Died, ' ..." --Ed Skoog, author of Run the Red Lights

"I'm grateful to Shawn Levy for reminding me what a generous, evocative exchange the newspaper obituary can be." --Elena Passarello, author of Animals Strike Curious Poses

"With his gimlet eye and big heart, Levy takes us on a backstage tour of our own popular culture." --Dobby Gibson, author of Little Glass Planet

"... moving and insightful ... a striking montage ..." --Juan Delgado, author of Vital Signs

Book Details

  • Publisher: University of Hell Press
  • Publish Date: Oct 19th, 2021
  • Pages: 212
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 7.87in - 5.20in - 0.63in - 0.70lb
  • EAN: 9781938753411
  • Categories: • Subjects & Themes - Death, Grief, Loss• American - General

About the Author

Levy, Shawn: - Shawn Levy is the international bestselling author of The Castle on Sunset, Paul Newman: A Life, Rat Pack Confidential, and six other books of biography and pop culture history. A former film critic for The Oregonian and KGW-TV, he has written for The New York Times, Interview, Sight and Sound, Variety, The Guardian, The Village Voice, The Black Rock Beacon, and many, many other publications. He holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of California, Irvine and serves on the board of Operation Pitch Invasion in Portland, Oregon, where he jumps and claps and sings for victory.

More books by Shawn Levy

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Book Cover for: The Last Playboy: The High Life of Porfirio Rubirosa, Shawn Levy
Book Cover for: De Niro: A Life, Shawn Levy
Book Cover for: Paul Newman: A Life, Shawn Levy
Book Cover for: Ready, Steady, Go!: The Smashing Rise and Giddy Fall of Swinging London, Shawn Levy
Book Cover for: Rat Pack Confidential: Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter, Joey and the Last Great Show Biz Party, Shawn Levy
Book Cover for: In on the Joke: The Original Queens of Standup Comedy, Shawn Levy
Book Cover for: Dolce Vita Confidential: Fellini, Loren, Pucci, Paparazzi, and the Swinging High Life of 1950s Rome, Shawn Levy