American Smooth: Poems

Title: American Smooth: Poems
Author: Rita Dove
ISBN: 9780393327441
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2006
Binding: Paperback
Language: English
Edition: Reprint
Number of Pages: 144
Publisher Description: An occasion to celebrate: a new collection by the Pulitzer Prize-winning former poet laureate; her first since On the Bus with Rosa Parks. With the grace of an Astaire, Rita Dove's magnificent poems pay homage to our kaleidoscopic cultural heritage; from the glorious shimmer of an operatic soprano to Bessie Smith's mournful wail; from paradise lost to angel food cake; from hotshots at the local shooting range to the Negro jazz band in World War I whose music conquered Europe before the Allied advance. Like the ballroom-dancing couple of the title poem, smiling and making the difficult seem effortless, Dove explores the shifting surfaces between perception and intimation.