{"product_id":"ambition-and-survival-becoming-a-poet-paperback","title":"Ambition and Survival: Becoming a Poet - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eChristian Wiman\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Blazing high style\" is how \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e describes the prose of Christian Wiman, the young editor who transformed \u003ci\u003ePoetry\u003c\/i\u003e, the country's oldest literary magazine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmbition and Survival\u003c\/i\u003e is a collection of stirring personal essays and critical prose on a wide range of subjects: reading Milton in Guatemala, recalling violent episodes of his youth, and traveling in Africa with his eccentric father, as well as a series of penetrating essays on writers as diverse as Thomas Hardy and Janet Lewis. The book concludes with a portrait of Wiman's diagnosis of a rare form of incurable and lethal cancer, and how mortality reignited his religious passions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhen I was twenty years old I set out to be a poet. That sounds like I was a sort of frigate raising anchor, and in a way I guess I was, though susceptible to the lightest of winds. . . . When I read Samuel Johnson's comment that any young man could compensate for his poor education by reading five hours a day for five years, that's exactly what I tried to do, practically setting a timer every afternoon to let me know when the little egg of my brain was boiled. It's a small miracle that I didn't take to wearing a cape.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eAmbition and Survival\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"That calling, at once religious, ethical, and aesthetic, is one that only a genuine poet can hear--and very few poets can explain it as compellingly as Mr. Wiman does. That gift is what makes \u003ci\u003eAmbition and Survival\u003c\/i\u003e, not just one of the best books of poetry criticism in a generation, but a spiritual memoir of the first order.\"\u003cbr\u003e--\u003ci\u003eNew York Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This weighty first prose collection should inspire wide attention, partly because of Wiman's current job, partly because of his astute insights and partly because he mixes poetry criticism with sometimes shocking memoir...The collection's greatest strength comes in general ruminations on the writing, reading and judging poetry.\" --\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[Wiman is] a terrific personal essayist, as this new collection illustrates, with the command and instincts of the popular memoirist ... This is a brave and bracing book.\" --\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Christian Wiman's poems often spoke of a void, and then they stopped. In \u003ci\u003eAmbition and Survival, \u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003ePoetry\u003c\/i\u003e magazine's editor rediscovers his spirituality and his voice.\"--\u003ci\u003eChicago Sun-Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eChristian Wiman\u003c\/b\u003e is the editor of \u003ci\u003ePoetry\u003c\/i\u003e magazine. His poems and essays appear regularly in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHarper's\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e. He is the author of several books of poetry, including \u003ci\u003eThe Long Home\u003c\/i\u003e (isbn 9781556592690) and \u003ci\u003eHard Night\u003c\/i\u003e (isbn 9781556592201).\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eChristian Wiman was born and raised in west Texas. His poetry and criticism appears widely in magazines, including The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, and Slate. His first book won the Nicholas Roerich Prize, and he has won the Ruth Lilly and Wallace Stegner Fellowships. He lives in Chicago, where he is the editor of Poetry magazine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 280\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.78 x 9.05 x 6.08 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 01, 2007\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53463469359411,"sku":"9781556592607","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0990\/0746\/3731\/files\/Wp1ZYWG8L79781556592607.webp?v=1781611671","url":"https:\/\/rbangel-store.myshopify.com\/products\/ambition-and-survival-becoming-a-poet-paperback","provider":"The Celestial Starlit Phoenix ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}