Blessings for the Hands

by Matthew Schwartz

Book Overview

From The Sky Inside the Shaking Tree What you feel reveals you. Watch for the sustenance inclined to a source, enamored of singularity, quickly here and quickly gone, shadow from which the body's courage comes. Fireflies apparently stumbling. I slapped one on my leg. Its blood glowed. Blessings for the Hands follows various speakers--often disabled speakers, who never once figure themselves as objects of complaint or self-pity--through the haunted...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226740951
• ISBN13: 9780226740959
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 72 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.3" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

An incredibly thoughtful read

I am usually a bit of a jerk about poetry, not very content to read anything that has not been approved by some reputable source. But my wife picked up a copy of this recently and asked me to look through it when I got a chance. My first reading was on the subway to and from work, and in this distracting time, was lulled by the remarkable rhythms of Mr. Schwartz's poetry. When our vacation arrived, I packed it with me to really attempt to internalize what I'd read. This book is beautiful. I rarely reread a book, but this one was well worth it. I was able to find subtleties within it that I hadn't noticed upon the first read. And despite its amazing complexities, it is still very accessible for a reader (like myself) who didn't go to college or has not dedicated themself lifelong to the pursuit of poetry (as my wife has). I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a bit of poetry that is not heavy handed, nor full of so much of the overly-wrought conceit I seem to feel from so much of the poetry that people try to push on me. It is crisp, it is open, and it is thoughtful.