A new and resplendent collection by Linda Gregg, whose poems "have the elegance of Greek statuary and the good-humored poise of haiku."—Poetry
In the Middle Distance
- “Passion and strife come together in In the Middle Distance.”—NPR
In one poem in this emotional and spiritual collection, Linda Gregg asks, "It is clear why love / took me to the shore of death, / but why did it bring me back?" In the Middle Distance, Gregg's sixth book, explores up to and beyond the crossroads of devastation and desire. There, Gregg find not only survival but also salvation—hard won, resilient, and meaningful. This collection brings Gregg's passion and intensity together with a new wisdom and vitality that is unmistakably original. "I have loved Linda Gregg's poems since I first read them. They are original in the way that really matters: they speak clearly of their source. They are inseparable from the surprising, unrolling, eventful, pure current of their language, and they convey at once the pain of individual loss, a steady and utterly personal radiance.—W.S. Merwin"Linda Gregg continues to be the builder of beautiful contraptions, poems built steadfastly by real life, bright and stark, truths told tranquil inunblinding light."—Lucie Brock-Broido
Praise
- “[Gregg’s] poetry breaks and devours comforting sentiments, soothing language, elevated humbug, wishful thinking. . . . [Her poetry] menaces or devours not flesh and blood but cozy preconceptions.”—The Washington Post
- “In the gorgeous and conflicted middle distance of Gregg’s poems, “the sun…is always going down,” and the speaker is walking and thinking of love and solitude and silence, leaving the reader to lavish in the charged intimacies of the moment.”—Boston Review
- “This is a powerful account of facing later life on one’s own.”—Publishers Weekly
- “Greggs finest so far explores…logic with real tenacity and intelligence.”—Poetry