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Di Piero, W. S : Brother Fire: Poems

Alfred A. Knopf, New York City, NY, 2004

ISBN 1400042038

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 80 pages. The polymath/poet's eighth collection. Now considered a contemporary classic. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents W. S. Di Piero's "Brother Fire". Forty indispensable poems. "A broad range of poems that examines ordinary routines like ironing, mowing a lawn, attending a party as well as symbolic rituals like holiday celebrations on Halloween and The Fourth of July. Di Piero takes a so-called 'language poet' approach while somehow managing to keep a solid footing on tangible subject matter. Strikingly American in how he pushes language, content, and experience through the lens of history, both personal and traditional, he creates unique cityscapes, everyday photographic moments, and contemplative, artistic compositions. Pushes boundaries of thought and expression in ways that may not appeal to more conservative readers but will certainly challenge and engage the willing" (Janet St. John). If poetry is not, first and foremost, about language, then it probably isn't poetry (whereas much prose is not necessarily about writing). Aside from his poetry, Di Piero has translated Euripides and Giacomo Leopardi, among others, published several collections of essays, and a Professor of Literature at Stanford University, a national treasure, in other words. "I / felt delivered, unfinished, / to bright solid scenes / melting through me as I / streamed helpless into them" (W. S. Di Piero). An absolute "must-have" title for W. S. Di Piero collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by W. S. Di Piero. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a late-modern classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. One of the greatest writers of our time. A fine copy. . ISBN 1400042038.

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