"These are poems of verve and substance. Staley's language astonishes in its range, and in the density of its meaning. This is wonderful poetry."—William Kennedy, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ironweed and Roscoe
Description
This lyrical, autobiographical romp takes the reader from the poet’s childhood, to combat in WW II, to upstate New York. It is tempting to get caught up in the frank passion, the asperity and gall of these poems, but Harry Staley disrupts such a reading with a wink and a nudge. A masterwork of persona, All One Breath is actually many breaths: the reconstructed Charles McCaffery, the retired, laconic professor Kelly, the lost Uncle Orville and others. At the center is an unstoppable wit and erudition, masked by an exacting, deceptively effortless use of language, of sound and sense. All One Breath is among the few collections of poetry that deserve to be called essential.
About the Author
Harry C. Staley is professor emeritus at State University of New York at Albany. He is the author of a previous collection of poetry, The Lives of the Shell-Shocked Chaplain.
May 2002