American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes

American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin

Terrance Hayes

Penguin Publishing Group · Paperback · June 19, 2018

Finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry Named a Best American Poetry Book of the 21st Century (So Far) by The Atlantic A powerful, timely, dazzling collection of sonnets from one of America's most acclaimed poets, Terrance Hayes, the National Book Award-winning author of Lighthead "Sonnets that reckon with Donald Trump's America." —The New York Times In seventy poems bearing the same title, Terrance Hayes explores the meanings of American, of assassin, and of love in the sonnet form.

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Who it’s for
Seventy sonnets meet American history, political unease, and love with wit, compassion, and bewilderment.
Themes
American identity and politics, Love, The country's past and future
Genres
African American Poetry, Political & Protest Poetry, American Poetry

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About this book

Finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry Named a Best American Poetry Book of the 21st Century (So Far) by The Atlantic A powerful, timely, dazzling collection of sonnets from one of America's most acclaimed poets, Terrance Hayes, the National Book Award-winning author of Lighthead "Sonnets that reckon with Donald Trump's America." —The New York Times In seventy poems bearing the same title, Terrance Hayes explores the meanings of American, of assassin, and of love in the sonnet form.

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Written during the first two hundred days of the Trump presidency, these poems are haunted by the country's past and future eras and errors, its dreams and nightmares. Inventive, compassionate, hilarious, melancholy, and bewildered—the wonders of this new collection are irreducible and stunning.

The Sonnet Reconsidered

Seventy sonnets meet American history, political unease, and love with wit, compassion, and bewilderment.

Come here for

  • A sonnet form made inventive and restless
  • Poems reckoning with America’s past, present, and future

Expect

  • Wit alongside melancholy and bewilderment
  • The same title, returning across seventy poems

Where it sits

American Poetry85%
African American Poetry74%
Political & Protest Poetry56%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • American Poetry
  • African American Poetry
  • Poetry - General Themes
Authors
Terrance Hayes
Publisher
Penguin Publishing Group
Published
June 19, 2018
Format
Paperback
Theme
American identity and politics · Love · The country's past and future
Reading lane
American Poetry