The Last Happy Occasion

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The Last Happy Occasion

Author: Alan Shapiro
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Publisher: University of Chicago Press
The Last Happy Occasion is the coming-of-age story of an American Jew and aspiring writer in the sixties and seventies. In this memoir in six movements, Alan Shapiro recalls how poetry helped him make sense of his own and other people’s lives. Events unfold, including his sister’s death, that make him reconsider the transformative power of art and accept the limitations of poetry in confronting the untransformable pain of mortal loss.

A refreshingly honest, lovingly crafted work, The Last Happy Occasion is a treasure map for anyone interested in exploring the intersections of life and art.

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Amazon.com

This collection of essays by poet Alan Shapiro is part memoir, part literary criticism. Each piece uses a poem—usually one by a 20th-century poet such as Philip Larkin or Elizabeth Bishop—to address some vital aspect of the human condition. Illustrated by examples from his own experiences, he reflects on life’s rites of passage—his childhood struggle with religion, the birth of his son, and the death of his sister. Shapiro’s essays go beyond mere musing as he employs his critical skills to dissect the thoughts and feelings already packed into the poetry he includes.

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