FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR POETRYWinner of the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets, selected by Juan Felipe HerreraFor years now, I’ve been using the wrong palette.Each year with its itchy blue, as the bruise of solitude reaches its expiration date.Planes and buses, guesthouse to guesthouse.I’ve gotten to where I am by dint of my poor eyesight,my overreactive motion sickness.9 p.m., Hanoi’s Old Quarter: duck porridge and plum wine. Voices outside the door come to a soft boil.―from “Phnom Penh Diptych: Dry Season”Jenny Xie’s award-winning debut, Eye Level, takes us far and near, to Phnom Penh, Corfu, Hanoi, New York, and elsewhere, as we travel closer and closer to the acutely felt solitude that centers this searching, moving collection. Animated by a restless inner questioning, these poems meditate on the forces that moor the self and set it in motion, from immigration to travel to estranging losses and departures. The sensual worlds here―colors, smells, tastes, and changing landscapes―bring to life questions about the self as seer and the self as seen. As Xie writes, “Me? I’m just here in my traveler’s clothes, trying on each passing town for size.” Her taut, elusive poems exult in a life simultaneously crowded and quiet, caught in between things and places, and never quite entirely at home. Xie is a poet of extraordinary perception―both to the tangible world and to “all that is untouchable as far as the eye can reach.”
✔ Author(s): Jenny Xie
✔ Title: Eye Level: Poems
✔ Rating : 4.6 out of 5 base on (83 reviews)
✔ ISBN-10: 1555978029
✔ ISBN-13: 9781555978020
✔ Language: English
✔ Format ebook: PDF, EPUB, Kindle, Audio, HTML and MOBI
✔ Device compatibles: Android, iOS, PC and Amazon Kindle
Readers' opinions about Eye Level by Jenny Xie
Melody Blake
I must confess, this book made me shed tears like never before. The themes of love, loss, and resilience struck a chord with my soul. It was an emotional journey I'm grateful to have taken.
Beata Shepard
The author's writing style is so captivating; I couldn't put the book down. Every sentence was beautifully crafted, and the descriptions painted vivid images in my mind. A true literary gem.
Daphne Garner
The world created in this book was unlike anything I've ever encountered. The author's imagination knows no bounds, and I was completely mesmerized by the fantastical setting.
