A Carnival Of Losses: Notes Nearing Ninety

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Description

Former poet laureate of the United States Donald Halls final collection of essays, from the vantage point of very old age, once again alternately lyrical and laugh-out-loud funny.*
*(New York Times)

Why should a nonagenarian hold anything back Donald Hall answers his own question in these self-knowing, fierce, and funny essays on aging, the pleasures of solitude,and the sometimes astonishing freedoms arising from both.
Nearing ninety at the time of writing, he interspersesmemories of exuberant days in his youth,with uncensored tales ofliterary friendships spanning decadeswith James Wright, Richard Wilbur, Seamus Heaney,and other luminaries.
Cementing his place alongside Roger Angell and Joan Didion as a generous and profound chronicler of loss, this final work is as original and searing as anything Hall wroteduringhisextraordinary literary lifetime.

Reviews

Hall lived long enough to leave behind two final books, memento mori titled Essays After Eighty (2014) and now A Carnival of Losses: Notes Nearing Ninety.Theyre up there with the best things he did.Dwight Garner,New York Times Donald Hall writes about love and loss and art and home in a manner so essential and direct its as if hes put the full force of his life on the page.There are very few perfect books andA Carnival of Lossesis one of them.Ann Patchett Afreewheeling essay collection thats a fitting coda to a distinguished career . . .Hall may have reached his roundhouse but not before bequeathing readers with this moving valedictory gift. Washington Post It's a beauty, brimming with stories, confessions and faded snapshots in time in which he muses about life, settles a few scores and brags a little about his accomplishments . . .Its odd that a book whose subject is loss could be so uplifting. And yet it is. Hall may be telling us what its like to fall apart, but he does it so calmly, and with such wit and exactitude, that you cant help but shake your head in wonder.Ann Levin, Associated Press Ajoy to read.BookPage Its a heartbreaking beauty of a book.Bookish Halls ruminative and detailed reflections on life make this a fantastic follow-up to hisEssays After Eighty.Publishers Weekly, starred review A joyful, wistful celebration of poetry, poets, and a poets life . . .Theres much to enjoy in these exuberant 'notes.'KirkusReviews

Author Bio

DONALD HALL (1928-2018) served as poet laureate of the United States from 2006 to 2007. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a recipient of the National Medal of the Arts, awarded by the president.