A stunning collection of work from beloved poet John Ashbery, his
first posthumous book
Renowned for his inventive mind, ambitious play with language, and
dexterity with a wide range of tones and styles, John Ashbery has been a
major artistic figure in the cultural life of our time. Parallel
Movement of the Hands gathers unpublished, book-length projects and
long poems written between 1993 and 2007, along with one (as yet)
undated work, to showcase Ashbery's diverse and multifaceted artistic
obsessions and sources, from children's literature, cliffhanger cinema
reels, silent films, and classical music variations by Beethoven's pupil
Carl Czerny to the history of early photography. Ashbery even provides a
fresh and humorous take on a well-worn parable from the Gospel of
Matthew. These works demonstrate that while producing and publishing the
shorter, discrete poems often associated with his late career, Ashbery
continued to practice the long-form, project-based writing that has long
been an important element of his oeuvre.
Edited and introduced by Ashbery's former assistant poet Emily Skillings
and including a preface by acclaimed poet and novelist Ben Lerner, this
compelling and varied collection offers new insights into the process
and creative interests of a poet whose work continues to influence
generations of artists and poets with its signature intertextuality,
openness, and simultaneity. A landmark publication of never-before-seen
works, this book will enlighten scholars as well as new readers of one
of America's most prominent and celebrated poets.
