About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
These poems lead the reader into a world that reveals a balancing act between the familiar and known, the mysterious and wild. Some poems are narrative, some imagistic meditations, and some are small, playful pieces that edge into wisdom: "Here, here, you sing and now / Between me and what I see / lives eternity." Throughout there is a unifying voice that is all Rappaport's own and (unimaginably) blends skepticism with mysticism. The poems present themselves as both playful and worldlywise. These are poems that prefer understatement to hyperbole, with the capacity to compact turns of phrase and occasional rhyme so as to maximize their energy. The very structure of the book - stating and then returning to themes - enhances the energy and freshness of the collection by placing contrasting poems in juxtaposition. Rappaport's voice makes the reader lean in so as to better hear what will next be said: "I sometimes wonder who / else is livin gin this body." His voice makes witty, humorous, truthful observations with a facility of language that is confident, relaxed, playful, and all his own.
Contributor Notes
Henry Rappaport, the cofounder of Intermedia Press in Vancouver, B.C., grew up in Monticello, New York. He graduated from Syracuse University where he won the Whiffin Prize for Poetry and went on to receive his M.A. from the University of Washington. He has lived in Vancouver since 1968, where he writes full time.
