Product Description
Selected by Peter Davison with an introduction by Edward Hirsch. Sissman was a true phenomenon in American poetry. He published his first book, a collection of antic, autobiographical episodes in blank verse, in 1968. Eight years and three books later, he died of Hodgkin's disease at the age of forty-eight. Of Sissman's remarkable final poems John Updike wrote, "What other poet had ever given such wry and unblinking witness to his own dying? His poetry gave back to life more generously than he had received, and carried his beautiful wit into darkness undimmed." Now Sissman's longtime editor, Peter Davison, has selected from his lifework the essential poems--the essence of an American original. (A Mariner Original) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Ed Sissman remembered
I met Ed Sissman back in 1946 in Cambridge, Massachusetts while a student at Wheaton College. He was a gentle giant.He would write me poems; I suspect I was his first girlfriend.I lost touch before I married in early 1949. When he began publishing poetry in the New Yorker magazine I wrote him a fan letter, and we had lunch in Boston where he showed me page proofs of a new poem. That was in 1966. Thereafter,it was easy to follow his life through his monthly Atlantic Monthly articles and subsequently follow the course of his fatal illness. I love his poetry. He wrote about his daily trials and happinesses clearly and understandably, unlike so much modern poetry, and with wry humor. The world has lost its innocent bystander who would have enlivened our contemporary world with wit and compassion.

Where has this poet been all my life?
I'd never heard of the late L.E. Sissman till I went to a reading of poems from this book at Harvard. Peter Davison and John Updike reminisced about him and read his wonderful story-poems with zest and humor and realtenderness. Was there ever a poet who wrote about his youth with more manicjoy, or about his own dying (from Hodgkin's disease) with more unblinkingfrankness? I doubt it, and I doubt that there is another poet of hisgeneration (the sixties) who wrote with such immediate accessability--he'sa poet every American dog or cat can understand and enjoy. What a find!Thank you Mr. Davison for bringing him back into print. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A glimpse into the past and future
The Mutant Phase looks into the past by using the Dalek Invasion of Earth as the background for this adventure.

The Daleks have a problem, mutations are causing all kinds of trouble and only the Doctor can solve the problem.

Meanwhile the Doctor finds him self and Nyssa in setting familiar to him where he is trying to extricate himself.

The acting isn't particularly memorable, Davidson and Sutton are their normal good and the supporting cast does nothing to advance or retard the action but it is the plot that brings this to 4 stars.

At one port you have the Doctor and Nyssa squaring off on what things in history can be changed and what can't.The subject is Adric (and is pre The Boy That Time Forgot (Doctor Who) ) it along with the last ten minutes are particularly enjoyable.

One historical note, this was the last Big Finish release before 8th Doctor Paul McGann joined with Doctor Who:Storm Warning (Big Finish Audio Drama).

Slightly out of phase
The Daleks are falling prey to a mysterious ailment.Believing the Doctor can reverse the effects they trap the TARDIS in a time corridor.

Scriptwriter Nicholas Briggs knows a thing or two about Daleks.In addition to voicing them for both Big Finish and the new series, he's also written the Dalek Empire series.So it's no surprise that this story, which ties into the classic series episode The Dalek Invasion of Earthis positively steeped in Dalek mythos.We have Robomen, Thals, and Skaro.

I quite like the first three parts of the story.It's nice to see the Daleks worried about something other than how to most efficiently exterminate everything in sight.However, the final resolution, which relies on a convenient and rather nonsensical time paradox, is a bit of a letdown.

3 stars.

Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton are Together Again
This is an enjoyable Doctor Who audio adventure that reveals a hidden story of the struggle between the Thals, the Daleks, and Earth.

The Doctor and Nyssa must resolve a time paradox or the Daleks will become something much, much worse than they already are.

Why are the Daleks themselves afraid of this possibility?

This is a four part story that lasts about 110 minutes. ... Read more

Product Description
Word count: 2144. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An American Classic
L.E. Sissman was a wonderful poet.So, why haven't you heard of him?Well, for one thing, he wrote in a style that might've been a bit too old-fashioned for the tastes of many critics.Perhaps more importantly, hecan't be easilyclassified -- he belonged to no particular school ormovement -- and this will render a poet invisible to some academics.Also,there's a faint upper-middle-class hauteur about some of Sissman's poemsthat puts him beyond the pale for many critics and academics.It's purelya matter of taste: either you love Sissman, or you don't.

For me, readinghis poetry starting with his first book, Dying: An Introduction, andfollowing his career through to the very death he'd been writing about, wasa poignant experience back in the 1960s and 1970s.This collection enablesyounger readers to experience the same pain and the same joy Sissman'scontemporary readers felt.A not-to-be-missed experience.

In addition tothe poems addressing his own mortallity, there are autobiographical poemsand many lyrical meditations, all expressed in Sissman's beautifullycrafted style.Highest recommendation.

An excellent book of poem stories about this man's life.
This is a very good book that has insipried me to keep writing poems (mainly to my girlfriend).The style of writing is very original even though that is how I have always written myself.Cheers to a veryinspirational book with a deceiving title. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sombre insightful intelligent essays
These autobiographical essays describe two worlds, two different times and parts of Jacobson's life. The first is his early years growing up in Kimberly , South Africa. The second are the first years of his life in London. The first set of essays are rich in characters, family, neighbors, school- acquaintances, teachers. I found particularly striking Jacobson's story of an incident where he was treated cruelly by a teacher and the 'bulls' of his class. In this incident Jacobson gives a riveting description of the effect of such intimidation on the soul of the boycotted child. In another powerful essay he writes of an immigrant Jewish South African who unusually takes an Afrikaaner( as opposed to 'English')identity and who laterupon sensing with the Cuban invasion of Angola that the Communists are about to destroy hisAfrikaaner world , takes his own life.
After South Africa Jacobson finds London to be a spacious land of incredible variety and liberation. He describes here key encounters, including one with the famed critic F.R. Leavis, and tells us how an incidental meeting leads to a dramatic change in his life, his meeting with his future wife.
In the last chapters of the book he focuses on his uncle's and his father's last years. He also writes on a spell of his own as a patient.
There is a sense , an underlying tone of gloom in these pages. But Jacobson is a serious, strong, insightful writer whose work is well- worth reading. ... Read more

Product Description
His second book of poetry. ... Read more