Paul Auster's penetrating and charged verse resembles little else in recent Amer
ican poetry. This collection of his poetry, translations, and composition notes
from early in his career furnish yet further evidence of his literary mastery. T
aut, densely lyrical and everywhere informed by a powerful and subtle music, thi
s selection begins with the compact verse fragments of Spokes (written when Aust
er was in his early twenties) and Unearth, continues on through the more ample m
editations of Wall Writing, Disappearances, Effigies, Fragments From the Cold, F
acing the Music and White Spaces, then moves further back in time to include Aus
ter's revealing translations of many of the French poets who influenced his own
writing - including Paul Eluard, Andre Breton, Tristan Tzara, Philippe Soupault,
Robert Desnos, and Rene Char - as well as the provocative and previously unpubl
ished "Notes From A Composition Book" (1967).
