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Book Cover for: The Undressing: Poems, Li-Young Lee

The Undressing: Poems

Li-Young Lee

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.

Book Details

  • Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
  • Publish Date: Mar 3rd, 2020
  • Pages: 96
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.10in - 5.40in - 0.20in - 0.20lb
  • EAN: 9780393357875
  • Categories: American - Asian American & Pacific Islander

About the Author

Lee, Li-Young: - 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.

More books by Li-Young Lee

Book Cover for: The Invention of the Darling: Poems, Li-Young Lee
Book Cover for: Rose, Li-Young Lee
Book Cover for: The City in Which I Love You, Li-Young Lee
Book Cover for: The Winged Seed: A Remembrance, Li-Young Lee
Book Cover for: Breaking the Alabaster Jar: Conversations with Li-Young Lee, Li-Young Lee
Book Cover for: Book of My Nights, Li-Young Lee
Book Cover for: Behind My Eyes, Li-Young Lee
Book Cover for: I Ask My Mother to Sing: Mother Poems of Li-Young Lee, Li-Young Lee
Book Cover for: El desnudo: Poemas, Li-Young Lee
Book Cover for: Behind My Eyes: Poems [With CD], Li-Young Lee

Praise for this book

[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"
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"
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)"
Countless gorgeous details provide, in poem after poem, distinct delights.--Dan Chiasson "The New Yorker"
Erotic.... Throughout this multilayered book, [Lee] challenges readers to think and to feel more deeply.--Elizabeth Lund "Washington Post"
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"
An important story about human nature.... [Li-Young] Lee's elegance transports us into the aspirations of yearning.--American Poetry Review "David Biespiel"
Passionate, pure, and enchanted.... The poet of rapture and tenderness.--Major Jackson "American Poets"
Delight[s] in revelations that are holy and intimate.... [Lee's] wisdom situates itself in a fresh way.--Derek J. G. Williams "Rumpus"