description A Wave Overview
John Ashbery’s *A Wave* is a 1984 poetry collection recognized for its expansive length and complex structure. The title poem, a significant work within the book, exemplifies Ashbery's style associated with the New York School. It’s notable for winning the Bollingen Prize and remains valuable for readers interested in experimental American poetry and surrealist explorations of consciousness. This collection is particularly relevant to those studying or appreciating 20th-century literature and modernist aesthetics.
help A Wave FAQ
What is John Ashbery's A Wave about?
The collection moves through memory, aging, perception, art, and the unstable experience of ordinary life rather than telling one continuous story. Its long title poem repeatedly changes direction, making the reader's act of following thought part of the subject.
Which major poems are included in A Wave?
The book contains the extended title poem "A Wave" as well as "Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror"-like meditations on art and consciousness, though that earlier poem belongs to a different Ashbery collection. Readers should not confuse the 1984 volume with Ashbery's 1975 book Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror.
What awards did A Wave receive?
A Wave won the 1985 National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry and was also recognized with the Bollingen Prize. Those honors helped establish it as one of Ashbery's central late-20th-century collections.
Is A Wave a good starting point for reading Ashbery?
It suits readers willing to follow associative language without expecting a conventional narrative. Someone new to Ashbery may first try shorter poems from the volume before tackling the long title work.
explore Explore More
Similar to A Wave
ui.x_see_all arrow_forward
Reviews & Comments
Write a Review
Be the first to review
Share your thoughts with the community and help others make better decisions.
