Cover of American Smooth

American Smooth

by Rita Dove · 2004

+ Want to read

An occasion to celebrate: a new collection by the Pulitzer Prize-winning former poet laureate; her first since On the Bus with Rosa Parks. With the grace of an Astaire, Rita Dove's magnificent poems pay homage to our kaleidoscopic cultural heritage; from the glorious shimmer of an operatic soprano to Bessie Smith's mournful wail; from paradise lost to angel food cake; from hotshots at the local shooting range to the Negro jazz band in World War I whose music conquered Europe before the Allied advance. Like the ballroom-dancing couple of the title poem, smiling and making the difficult seem effortless, Dove explores the shifting surfaces between perception and intimation.

Genre
literary fictionliterary fictionMore like thisLess of this
Setting
2000s2000sMore like thisLess of thiscollegecollegeMore like thisLess of this
Audience
adult
Length
short · 144 pages
Form
poetrypoetryMore like thisLess of this

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