Itself

Starred review from January 19, 2015
The powers of brevity, observation, and sarcastic wit that took Armantrout (Just Saying) from 1970s avant-gardist to widely imitated—and Pulitzer Prize–winning (for 2010’s Versed)—authority are back, and as sharp as ever. The UC San Diego professor of poetry alludes to the flora and climate of her native California, as well as to her own age and sense of mortality: “We inquire about heaven/ as we might/ about a nursing home.” At the same time, the hypocrisies, little absurdities, and symptoms of false consciousness that her sharp lines diagnose can be found in the language most Americans use. “What do I have to say/ to myself?” asks a poem called “End User”; “My username/ is invalid.” Like a prolific musician, Armantrout produces many outwardly similar works, but none of them sound much like anyone else. Her recent books reflect her continued interest in social critique, as well as her new attention to the natural sciences; in this one—which is perhaps among her best—computer science and math take the lead, allowing her to ask in what sense we are functions, rule-governed beings, or kinds of programs: “For us to consist/ of infinitesimal points// of want/ and not// makes a lot of sense.”

Starred review from March 15, 2015

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Armantrout (Versed) offers poems so spare that they feel like dry leaves brushing across the page, but what's packed into them, the intensive reflection, both personal and social, is remarkable. In her latest collection, she concisely phrases and rephrases questions on what this world is about and how we exist in it, "doing whatever it takes to// whatever because, // really." Armantrout is interested in how we experience the moment and then interpret it ("I take these white streaks// of truck// glimpsed/ between branches// to be blossoms"), showing that we wear masks even as we play by the rules. And if we "consist/ of infinitesimal points// of want," we're also a flow of experience and in the flow of experience, "because 'first'/ was part of 'now'/ from the very start." Life is like light, then, both particle and wave, and a definite radiant energy crackles through this book almost in defiance of the its cleanly polished surface; Armantrout is nothing if not accomplished in her craft. VERDICT There's a tremendously satisfying consistency in Armantrout's recent work that's evident here, yet it also feels more personal. Important for all poetry collections.--Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

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