The work of this “eminent, still-wild spirit of Central Europe” (Publishers Weekly) continues to electrify. In The Blue Tower, language is remade with tenderness and abandon: “Rommel was kissing heaven’s dainty hands and yet / from his airplane above the Sahara my uncle / Rafko Perhauc still blew him to bits.” There is an effervescence and a sense of freedom to Tomaž Salamun’s poetry that has made him an inspiration to successive generations of American poets, “a poetic bridge between old European roots and the American adventure” (Associated Press). Trivial and monumental, beautiful and grotesque, healing, ferocious, mad: The Blue Tower is an essential volume.
This essential volume is a masterclass in the avant-garde:
- Avant-Garde Verse: Where language is remade with tenderness and abandon, and seemingly random images connect with startling power.
- Historical Collage: Witness Field Marshal Rommel, Fra Angelico, and the poet’s uncle sharing the same surreal landscape.
- European Literature in Translation: A landmark work from a celebrated Slovenian poet, masterfully brought into English as a "poetic bridge between old European roots and the American adventure."
- Ferocious Beauty: A poetry that embraces the trivial and monumental, the beautiful and grotesque, creating an unforgettable and deeply human experience.