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Michelson's poems explore the boundaries between the personal and the political, and the connections between history and memory. Growing up under the shadow of the Holocaust, in a Brooklyn neighborhood consumed with racial strife, Michelson's experiences were far from ordinary. His sense of humor and acute awareness of Jewish history, with its ancient emphasis on the fundamental worth of human existence make this accessible book, finally, celebratory and life-affirming.
About the author
Richard Michelson is the author of the poetry collections
Battles & Lullabies and
Tap Dancing for Relatives. His many children's books have been named among the 10 Best Books of the Year by the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and the New Yorker, and among the 12 Best Books of the Decade by Amazon.com. Michelson has been a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award, the National Jewish Book Award, the Phillis Wheatley Award, and he is the only author to receive both the Sydney Taylor Gold and Silver Medal from the Association of Jewish Librarians. Michelson owns R. Michelson Galleries, hosts a poetry radio program, and is the current Poet Laureate of Northampton Massachusetts.
Summary
With humour, anger and great tenderness, Richard Michelson's poems explore the boundaries between the personal and the political, and the connections between history and memory. It is Michelson's sense of humor and acute awareness of Jewish history, with its ancient emphasis on the fundamental worth of human existence that makes this accessible book, finally, celebratory and life-affirming.
