A Condition of the Spirit: The Life and Work of Larry Levis

News of the sudden and untimely death of Larry Levis in 1996 left the world of contemporary American poetry stunned and dismayed. His work was of such depth and such amazing resonance, it was admired and studied by an entire generation of poets and readers, regardless of aesthetic, political, or cultural predispositions. Levis's poems crossed borders, broke down barriers, and invited a sharing of the strange, sweet loneliness of being that is the fundamental human lot. A Condition of the Spirit brings together reviews, essays, interviews, and meditations by more than forty American poets profoundly affected by Levis's life and work. It also contains twelve previously uncollected essays by Levis himself, making it a virtual handbook for the study of the poet's thinking on the craft of poetry and the craft of life. Contributors to the collection include Deborah Digges, Stephen Dunn, Nancy Eimers, Peter Everwine, Sandra Gilbert, Philip Levine, David St. John, Stephen Sandy, Dave Smith, Gerald Stern, Peter Stitt, Diane Wakoski, David Wojahn, Charles Wright, David Young, and Paul Zimmer.Alexander Long is the author of 'A Condition of the Spirit: The Life and Work of Larry Levis', published 2004 under ISBN 9780910055925 and ISBN 0910055920.