Dean Young challenges the reader to hang on as he jigs from one poetic
style to another and sets a wondrous course across a Duchampian
landscape.--Chicago Tribune
In Young's work, the big essential questions--mortality, identity, the
meaning of life--aren't simply food for thought; they're grounds for
entertainment.--The Sunday Star (Toronto)
Dean Young escorts his transplanted heart into invigorating poetic
territory that combines the joy of being alive with his signature
mixture of surrealism, humor, and fast-cut imagery. A Pulitzer finalist
known for his hard-won insights, NPR said it best when they observed
that Young sees even in the smallest things the heights of what we can
be.
From Harvest:
Bring me the high heart of a trapezist.
If not, bring me the heart of a drunk monk
so I may illuminate an ancient text
in a language I can't understand.
The brain too is blood, blood racing
100 miles an hour on training wheels
so let me splash through a red puddle,
let me kiss the face of a red puddle,
let me write my crazed, extreme demands
on the frost-cracked window of god's split
chest...
Dean Young is the author of twelve books of poetry, including
finalists for the Pulitzer Prize and Griffin Award. He teaches at the
University of Texas and lives in Austin.
