Ars Poetica: A Postmodern Parable
Sep 2024 · Texas A&M University Press
Ebook
294
Pages
Tools
info
About this ebook
In the caveat to this irreverent and hilarious satire, Clay Reynolds writes, “No poet writing today could be this lucky, this tragic, this infamous. Indeed, it wouldn’t be tolerated.” No, one will have to admit, it wouldn’t. Offered in the same vein as Jane Smiley’s Moo and Richard Russo’s Straight Man, Reynolds’s Ars Poetica explores the life of a modern-day Don Juan, a hedonistically ambitious poetaster of our own times, a self-styled Lothario, but, as the tragicomedy ultimately reveals, a man who ultimately discovers that he has more in common with Coleridge’s mariner than with any swashbuckling versifier of old.
At times a light-hearted romp through the wasteland world of contemporary creative writing where only the phony seem to survive and prosper, at times a vicious attack on the hypocrisy of political correctness and contemporary sexual mores, and at times a sordid slog through the back alleys of a single soul’s despair, Ars Poetica evolves as a parable of a passionate poet in a postmodern world, one fraught with the perils of pretense and one that offers meaningful achievement only at the price of the poetic soul.
At times a light-hearted romp through the wasteland world of contemporary creative writing where only the phony seem to survive and prosper, at times a vicious attack on the hypocrisy of political correctness and contemporary sexual mores, and at times a sordid slog through the back alleys of a single soul’s despair, Ars Poetica evolves as a parable of a passionate poet in a postmodern world, one fraught with the perils of pretense and one that offers meaningful achievement only at the price of the poetic soul.
In the caveat to this irreverent and hilarious satire, Clay Reynolds writes, “No poet writing today could be this lucky, this tragic, this infamous. Indeed, it wouldn’t be tolerated.” No, one will have to admit, it wouldn’t. Offered in the same vein as Jane Smiley’s Moo and Richard Russo’s Straig...
Discover more
About the author
CLAY REYNOLDS has written six previous novels, including The Vigil, Franklin’s Crossing (Pulitzer Prize entrant and Violet Crown winner) and Players and Monuments (Spur finalist and also a Violet Crown winner). His most recent book is The Tentmaker. A professional editor and consultant, Reynolds is author of more than seven hundred publications ranging from nonfiction books to short fiction to book reviews and scholarly articles. An NEA Fellow, he is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and presently serves as professor and associate dean for arts and humanities at the University of Texas at Dallas.
CLAY REYNOLDS has written six previous novels, including The Vigil, Franklin’s Crossing (Pulitzer Prize entrant and Violet Crown winner) and Players and Monuments (Spur finalist and also a Violet Crown winner). His most recent book is The Tentmaker. A professional editor and consultant, Reynolds ...
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
