The Light Of The World (Thorndike Press Large Print Biographies & Memoirs Series), by Elizabeth Alexander
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The Light Of The World (Thorndike Press Large Print Biographies & Memoirs Series), by Elizabeth Alexander
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A New York Times Bestseller A #1 Indie Next Pick An Amazon Best Book of April 2015 Acclaimed poet Elizabeth Alexander finds herself at an existential crossroads after the sudden death of her husband. Channeling her poetic sensibilities into a rich, lucid prose, she tells a love story that is, itself, a story of loss. Reflecting on the beauty of her married life, the trauma of her husband’s death, and the solace found in caring for her two teenage sons, Alexander universalizes a very personal quest for meaning and acceptance in the wake of loss.
The Light Of The World (Thorndike Press Large Print Biographies & Memoirs Series), by Elizabeth Alexander - Amazon Sales Rank: #4986975 in Books
- Published on: 2015-09-02
- Format: Large Print
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .90" h x 5.40" w x 8.60" l,
- Binding: Hardcover
- 233 pages
The Light Of The World (Thorndike Press Large Print Biographies & Memoirs Series), by Elizabeth Alexander Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of April 2015: Elizabeth Alexander’s memoir of her marriage and the sudden death of her husband is by turns sorrowful and joyful, earthy and elegiac, deeply personal and achingly universal. Alexander, an acclaimed poet perhaps best known for the poem she delivered at Barack Obama’s first inauguration, is a professor at Yale. (In an aside, she reveals that she is only the 3rd African American woman to get tenure at that University.) Her husband, Ficre, was an Eritrean who’d survived civil war in Africa to become a chef and artist in America; their marriage, as chronicled here, was a triumph of politics, society and romance. It was not without its secrets or its difficulties, but it was clearly a happy, no, make that a joyful union; the pleasures of cooking together (Alexander sometimes includes recipes), entertaining a huge, international group of family and friends and raising their two precocious boys is palpable on every mellifluous page. Like Joan Didion, Meghan O’Rourke and Roger Rosenblatt before her, Alexander here faces the unfaceable topic of loss -- and almost convinces us – and herself – that despite her terrible grief, she is grateful for the life and love that preceded it. --Sara Nelson
Review "Love - for a marvelous man, for her sons, for the textures and pleasures of the world - shines on every page of Elizabeth Alexander's THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. This acutely observed study of what it means to lose one's beloved is a profound and beautiful contradiction: a joyous book that faces head-on the deepest grief, written with art and courage, and with limitless heart."―Mark Doty"This is a beautifully written, heartrendingly candid account of the abrupt loss of her husband by the distinguished poet Elizabeth Alexander. It is a vivid, intensely rendered elegy of a remarkable man--husband, father, artist, chef. Both a memoir and a portrait of a marriage, The Light of the World is, as its title suggests, a bittersweet testament to love and the memory of love, one of the most compelling memoirs of loss that I have ever read."―Joyce Carol Oates "Elizabeth Alexander has written a brave and beautiful book about love and loss-the deep pain that comes with such a loss, and the redemptive realization that such pain is a small price to pay for such a love."―Jeannette Walls, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle"This is a gorgeous love story, written by one of America's greatest contemporary poets. Graceful in its simplicity, sweeping in scope, this book is proof that behind the boarded up windows of America's roiled marriages and ruined affairs, true love still exists, and where it does exist, it graces the world-and us-with light and hope. Elizabeth Alexander is a prose writer of deep talent and affecting skill. With ease, she peels back layer after layer to show the soft secrets of affection, the kindness, and the wide open generosity of a full hearted man and talented artist, who had more love to give in his relatively short lifetime than most of us will ever know."―James McBride, National Book Award-winning author of The Good Lord Bird and #1 New York Times bestseller The Color of Water"THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD is as beautiful and moving as a gorgeous piece of music. The minute I finished it, I longed to read it again."―Anna Deavere SmithPraise for Elizabeth Alexander"Elizabeth Alexander creates intellectual magic in poem after poem."―The New York Times Book Review"Elizabeth Alexander is a student, and dare I say, master of the craft. Her work is inspirational in a way that The Great Gatsby...is inspirational, in that it just says so much about who we are."―The Atlantic"In narratives sweetened by the lyric pulse and pierced through by felicitous turns of irony, Alexander chronicles the world of 'black and tan.' Her poems bristle with the irresistible quality of a world seen fresh."―Rita Dove, The Washington Post"[Alexander] seems much like Walt Whitman. She sings the American song."―Maya Angelou"Professor Alexander is a virtuosic writer and a shrewd analyst of American letters, a polyglot who moves fluently from essay to sonnet, from free verse to drama--and in her teaching, traces equally diverse themes."―Slate"Alexander explores tensions inherent in gender and race and expresses the ambivalence of motherhood in jazz-inflected tones."―ELLE
About the Author Elizabeth Alexander composed and recited "Praise Song for the Day" for President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration. She is the author of six books of poetry--including American Sublime, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize--and is the first winner of the Jackson Prize for Poetry and a National Endowment for the Arts and Guggenheim fellow. She is the Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University.
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Most helpful customer reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful. I so desperately wanted to change the ending – extend the love story. Knowing what was to be shared in ... By Sharon L Dwyer At only 15 pages in, I so desperately wanted to change the ending – extend the love story. Knowing what was to be shared in the coming pages, for a moment, I close the book – cherishing Elizabeth's, Simon's and Solomon's beloved Ficre as a living breathing husband and father. Thinking, so unrealistically that if I stop now, they will still have him. When I next opened the book, I read without pause to the last word. Elizabeth's memoir shared her personal story of love, grief, continuing love, and life in a way that leaves an indelible mark and a desire to know more...more about Ficre's legacy of love as lived through the ones he left behind.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful. A poetic view of a life, a marriage, art, food and the joy of living itself...and grief By Susan Drees Elizabeth Alexander met Ficre Ghebreyesus in New York City. He of the shaved head, the amazing recipes (he was a chef as well as an artist), they fell in love quickly and stayed in love and involved throughout their marriage. It appears to have been a marriage of spirits, souls, bodies and minds. Alexander, called Lizzie by her husband, was born and raised in the United States, a writer, a poet, a teacher. Ficre was from Eritrea; he was sent away by his family so he would not be fodder for a war and became a part of his large family's world-wide diaspora.This is a story of a love, of loss, of longing, laughter, tears, dancing, family near and far, art, music, terrible grief, memories, Africa, friends, a garden, food, children. It is the story of an incomplete life, told by the half left behind. Ficre died of a massive heart attack shortly after his 50th birthday, without warning, leaving his Lizzie and two teenage sons.It is difficult to describe how special this book is. Alexander is a poet and her mastery of the language shines, allowing us to see the depths of emotions in her words. But beyond the mastery of the words is her ability to evoke so many emotions, the conflicting emotions that come when one loses someone they love. Somehow she is able to let us in--just far enough to get glimpses of this man she loved, the father of her sons.Ficre did not paint what he saw. He saw in hismind, and then he painted, and then he found theflowers that were what he painted. He painted whathe wanted to continue to see. He painted how hewanted the world to look. He painted to fix somethingin place. And so I write to fix him in place, topass time in his company, to make sure I remember,even though I know I will never forget. (loc 1230)And by by writing she has shared her memories and Ficre with those of us who never met him. She has given us recipes, favorite selections of music and books. I plan to check out some of that music very soon.Very highly recommendedA copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
50 of 56 people found the following review helpful. They Lived a Lifetime in Their Sixteen Years Together By Nancy Elizabeth Alexander a poet, essayist, playwright and teacher best known for her “Praise Song for the Day” delivered during the inauguration of President Barack Obama was married to Ficre Ghebreyesus of Asmara, Eritrea. An artist and photographer that put the best and the worst on canvas, a chef that walked across the killing fields at age sixteen and landed at the Caffe Adulis in New Haven, Connecticut. A man that loved hearth above all else. A man that at the age of fifty left this world too soon.Light of the World is an ode to their life and love. A final embrace with a man that was loved and had loved deeply. At its core, Light of the World is a love story. A way to work through the insurmountable grief that a woman holds. An expression of a man so the world will not forget. A man that she was supposed to share the next 100 years with but only spent sixteen.The strongest parts of them were united in their children. The days are long but the years are short goes a saying quoted by many. Two children a little less than 18 months apart that were the center of their world. Two children that were taught their familial rituals and blessings, and always felt the unwavering love of their father.I do not want to admit my ignorance, but I will confess that I had to read this book with a dictionary on my lap. Ms. Alexander’s vocabulary usage is a step or twelve above my usual casual reading level but I did not find this to be a detriment, I actually enjoyed it.There are parts that are rambling and repetitive. I will forgive the author for this since it is quite obvious that this memoir is cathartic. She is the holder of the stories and needs to remember the feelings. She needs to have Ficre in her life again. She needs to stay put and move on at the same time. She needs to create a place for herself and her sons again. A place that might have tattered edges, but they are shared edges.I am not sure if this book will resonate with everyone. There are some parts that seem never ending. You can tell that Ms. Alexander does not want to let go. She was blessed, by love, by family, by community but mostly blessed with a heart that could take it all in and share it with others.
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