H of H Playbook

(Hardback)

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Description

A beautiful illustrated poetry book, reinterpreting the Greek myth of Herakles' tenth labour, from one of the world's most respected living poets 'Fans of Anne Carson, rejoice!... Carson's depth of knowledge about Greek mythology coupled with her poetic sensibility and illustrations is sure to breathe new life into this oft-told story.' Lit Hub H of H Playbook is an explosion of thought, in drawings and language, about a Greek tragedy called Herakles by the 5th-century BC poet Euripides. In myth Herakles is an embodiment of manly violence who returns home after years of making war on enemies and monsters (his famous "Labours of Herakles") to find he cannot adapt himself to a life of peacetime domesticity. He goes berserk and murders his whole family. Suicide is his next idea. Amazingly, this does not happen. Due to the intervention of his friend Theseus, Herakles comes to believe he is not, after all, indelibly stained by his own crimes, nor is his life without value. It remains for the reader to judge this redemptive outcome. "I think there is no such thing as an innocent landscape," said Anselm Kiefer, painter of forests grown tall on bones.

Reviews

Carson applies the habits of classical scholarship, the linguistic rigour, the relentless search for evidence, the jigsaw approach to scattered facts, to the trivia of contemporary private life.- * Sam Anderson, New York Magazine *
This book is a beautiful one, thoughtfully produced... the bold, bloody red paint makes a powerful impact, evoking the violent outcome of the play. * Minera *
Like all of Anne Carson's writing, this book is amazing - I haven't discovered any writing in years that's so marvellously disturbing. I just feel so happy that she's around. -- Alice Munro on AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF RED
Her work is full of moments of startling originality and beauty. The poems play with character and plot, myth and magic; they are rich with attitude and wit and the undertow of grief. If she was a prose writer she would instantly be recognised as a genius. -- Colm Tibn on AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF RED
Anne Carson is a daring, learned, unsettling writer. Autobiography of Red, which perhaps comes closest to representing the range of her voice and gifts, is a spellbinding achievement. -- Susan Sontag on AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF RED

Author Bio

Anne Carson (Author, Illustrator) Anne Carson was born in Canada and has been a professor of Classics for over thirty years. Her awards and honours include the T. S. Eliot Prize, a Lannan Award, the Pushcart Prize, the Griffin Prize, on two occasions, fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations, and the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature 2020.