In this Book

summary
Peripheral Vision by poet Susan Kinsolving travels to many unexpected places: the ocean floor, a lunatic asylum, and to an ocularist for a glass eye. She goes behind the scenes in a military hospital, an elementary school, and a disturbed family. Her poems were described in the New Yorker as “grand and almost terrifying.” In this new collection, she proves herself again. Exploring the world from many points of view, Kinsolving takes her readers to England, Hollywood, Wyoming, France, and Chile. In idiosyncratic homages, she invokes Neruda, Bishop, Clare, Frost, and Dickinson, along with Helen Keller and Odilon Redon. While referencing fact or history, she attacks with “a startling backhand of wit and irony,” as noted once in the New York Times Book Review. She writes poignantly to a daughter in Hollywood and acerbically to an ex-husband. Her family’s most disastrous Thanksgiving is described in a funny piece, “Fill the Cavity with Crumbs.” In “The Case of the Carrot,” she reports on an absurd legal action in family court. All Kinsolving’s poems demonstrate a keen love of language, its dimensions of meaning and musicality of sound. Each poem is a pleasure.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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    • View HTML View Summary
  1. Half Title
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  1. Frontmatter
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  1. Title Page
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  1. Copyright
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  1. Acknowledgments
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  1. Dedication
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  1. Contents
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  1. Truth Be Known
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  1. On Spindrift Drive One Night
  2. p. 15
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  1. Millions
  2. p. 16
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  1. After Frost
  2. p. 17
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  1. A Distance
  2. p. 18
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  1. To Her in Hollywood
  2. p. 19
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  1. Coming Toward Me
  2. p. 20
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  1. Page Count
  2. p. 21
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  1. Remodeling
  2. pp. 22-23
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  1. “Fill the Cavity with Crumbs”
  2. pp. 24-25
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  1. “Never Write About Me Again”
  2. p. 26
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  1. Commingling
  2. p. 27
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  1. The Wintry One
  2. p. 28
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  1. Nymphaea
  2. p. 29
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  1. Reflections on Narcissus
  2. pp. 30-32
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  1. Peripherals
  2. pp. 33-34
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  1. Her Manifest Metaphors
  2. p. 35
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  1. Mathematical Dreams
  2. p. 36
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  1. The Fashion of La Folie
  2. p. 37
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  1. Night Sight
  2. p. 38
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  1. Twelve Shelves
  2. p. 39
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  1. Periapt and Hu-Kwa
  2. p. 40
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  1. A Lasting Legacy in Warsaw
  2. p. 41
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  1. Conspirators
  2. p. 42
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  1. Parliament Passes the Inclosing Lands Act, 1809
  2. p. 43
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  1. From the Windows of the Kew Lunatic Asylum
  2. p. 44
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  1. Unnumbered
  2. p. 45
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  1. The End in Sight
  2. p. 46
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  1. Black Hills by Day
  2. pp. 47-48
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  1. History of A Metaphor
  2. pp. 49-50
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  1. Glass Eyes
  2. p. 51
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  1. The Ocularist Said
  2. p. 52
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  1. The Effect on Elizabeth
  2. p. 53
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  1. Picture This
  2. pp. 54-55
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  1. How It Happens
  2. pp. 56-57
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  1. Thermal Dynamics
  2. p. 58
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  1. Helen Keller in the News
  2. p. 59
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  1. Ambroise Paré, 1579
  2. p. 60
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  1. Prosthetic Anecdotes
  2. pp. 61-62
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  1. The Case of the Carrot
  2. p. 63
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  1. Evil Eyes
  2. p. 64
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  1. Frankie Minh
  2. p. 65
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  1. Second Grade, Seaview Elementary School
  2. pp. 66-67
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  1. On Isla Negra
  2. p. 68
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  1. Pvt. William O. Walker Recalls
  2. pp. 69-71
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  1. L’Oeil de Verre
  2. pp. 72-73
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  1. L’Oeil-ballon
  2. pp. 74-76
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  1. Biographical Note
  2. pp. 79-80
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