Primer of the Obsolete

by Diane Glancy

Overview

This remarkable collection of poems explores the conjoined cultures of Indian and European, the revisions the conquered race must face, and the disruption that results from the attempt to combine divergent cultures in a single being. These poems speak from a four-cornered world: Cherokee and white, Christian and conjuring. They attempt to retrieve fragments of language from a nearly erased culture. At times, they speak in the spirit of the remembered language with the new language that is not fully formed in the understanding of the narrator.

The poems have roots in history, religion, and illiteracy. They are inspired by folk artists who use materials and textures at hand—enamel and cornmeal on plywood, house paint on tar and tin, model airplane paint on corrugated scrap metal. The resulting lyrics walk the boundary between worlds, weaving remnants of the old way of viewing the world with pieces of the new world, such as a clapper that turns lights on and off. The experimental text revisits the gap between past and present. The past is just beneath a newly painted surface. The newly painted surface is not quite dry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781558494442
Publisher:	University of Massachusetts Press
Publication date:	05/12/2004
Series:	Juniper Prize for Poetry
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	80
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Diane Glancy is a professor at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she teaches Native American literature and creative writing. Her recent books include the novels The Mask Maker, Designs of the Night Sky, and Stone Heart: A Novel of Sacajawea. Among her poetry collections are The Relief of America, The Stones for a Pillow, and The Shadow's Horse. A new collection of essays, In-Between Places, is forthcoming.

Table of Contents

	The Buffalo at No Wait Cafe	1
	Generalist Custer My Highway Man My Trucker	2
	The Abandoned Wife Gives Herself to the Lord	3
	Lord of the Stable Lord of the Rack	4
	Caint Aint Abel	5
	I Have a Fever Blister Mister I Might Have Got from You	6
	Model Airplane Paint on Corrugated Scrap Metal	7
	Sketchy Goings	8
	The Lord Rains	9
	Bride of Christ	10
	Doot Dah Do	11
	The Translation Mobile	12
	Puff & Toot	13
	No One Has to Cross Jordan Alone	14
	Birdfood	15
	NOah's arK	16
	A Wife	18
	In my dream there was a house moving	19
	Why I Like God	20
	I Have My Hand on the Gearshift of My Space Ship and on the Horn	21
	Sweatlodge	22
	So the said treaties	23
	The Last Supper	24
	Blue House with People	25
	Irredenta	26
	Generally he gave them plenty of room	27
	Velcro	28
	A Trailer That Follows Back	29
	If then people walked (or boated)	30
	If I'm not on the road I don't think I'm getting anywhere (or) hoc sic)	31
	Bakey	32
	Leeroy's Wife Paint Nails	33
	American Aboriginal	34
	Air	35
	The Aviatrix at Russell Doughtery School	36
	For Stephanie	37
	Brown Bomber	38
	A History of Languishes	39
	Primer of the Obsolete	40
	They considered it their duty	41
	I am your true woman, Blinky	42
	Tongues	43
	Crows	44
	I Smelled Their Smoke	45
	Oven dish	46
	The Great Spirit's Wife	47
	Photograph of the Ark	48
	Flipjacks	49
	Three Deer	50
	Ranger Otto Ranger Clive	51
	Looking for the Ark	52
	8 Ball	53

Editorial Reviews

"Since her 1996 novel Pushing the Bear, Glancy has established herself as one of the country's most versatile and prolific writers."—Publishers Weekly

"A fascinating and satisfying read."—Synecdoche

From the Publisher

A fascinating and satisfying read.

Synecdoche

A fascinating and satisfying read.

North American Review