OF QUARKS, QUASARS, AND OTHER QUIRKS

by Sara & John & John Brewton Blackburn--Eds. Brewton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 17, 1977

Assembled less for the science-minded than for those who find the world of quarks and quasars baffling, regrettable or both, this collection subtitled ""Quizzical Poems for the Supersonic Age"" (they might as aptly be called ""querulous"") includes two gobbledygook variations on ""Jabberwocky"" and much not-so-subtle irony on Progress, that favorite target of light and heavy versifiers. Water beds, television, computers, and supermarkets are variously bemoaned and the passing of the Iron Horse, whistling butcher, and elevator operator mourned along with trees, grass, and conviviality. ""You'all better leave God's moon alone,/ Else he ain't gonna turn it on, no more,"" warns Saundra Sharp in ""Moon Poem,"" and most of her companions here seem to harbor the same anxiety. In this context Hilaire Belloc comes as a reprieve with his ""I am a sundial, and I make a botch/ Of what is done far better by a watch."" Unfortunately the most heavily represented poet is also the most heavily obvious--Eve Merriam, whose testy and thumping complaints show less creative intelligence than the computers she satirizes--but then Louis B. Salomon's witty, sotto voce ""Univac to Univac"" more than compensates for all four of her entries. And, with subjects ranging from laundromats to quarks, by writers that stretch from Myra Cohn Livingston and David McCord to John Updike and Kenneth Burke, there should be something here to trip anyone's switch.

Pub Date: Aug. 17, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: T. Y. Crowell

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1977

Categories: NONFICTION