Jay Parini's Books

Robert Frost

A Life

By: Jay Parini

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This fascinating reassessment of America's most popular and famous poet reveals a more complex and enigmatic man than many readers might expect. Jay Parini spent over twenty years interviewing friends of Robert Frost and working in the poet's archives at Dartmouth, Amherst, and elsewhere to produce this definitive and insightful biography of both the public and private man. While he depicts the various stages of Frost's colorful life, Parini also sensitively explores the poet's psyche, showing how he dealt with adversity, family tragedy, and depression. By taking the reader into the poetry itself, which he reads closely and brilliantly, Parini offers an insightful road map to Frost's remarkable world.

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Page Count

545

Publisher

Henry Holt and Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

1466877804

ISBN 13

9781466877801

The Art of Teaching

By: Jay Parini

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The Art of Teaching

By: Jay Parini

Becoming an effective teacher can be quite painful and exhausting, taking years of trial and error. In The Art of Teaching, writer and critic Jay Parini looks back over his own decades of trials, errors, and triumphs, in an intimate memoir that brims with humor, encouragement, and hard-won wisdom about the teacher's craft. Here is a godsend for instructors of all levels, offering valuable insight into the many challenges that educators face, from establishing a persona in the classroom, to fostering relationships with students, to balancing teaching load with academic writing and research. Insight abounds. Parini shows, for instance, that there is nothing natural about teaching. The classroom is a form of theater, and the teacher must play various roles. A good teacher may look natural, but that's the product of endless practice. The book also considers such topics as the manner of dress that teachers adopt (and what this says about them as teachers), the delicate question of politics in the classroom, the untapped value of emeritus professors, and the vital importance of a settled, disciplined life for a teacher and a writer. Parini grounds all of this in personal stories of his own career in the academy, tracing his path from unfocused student--a self-confessed "tough nut to crack"--to passionate writer, scholar, and teacher, one who frankly admits making many mistakes over the years. Every year, thousands of newly minted college teachers embark on their careers, most with scant training in their chosen profession. The Art of Teaching is a perfect book for these young educators as well as anyone who wants to learn more about this difficult but rewarding profession.

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Page Count

175

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0198037937

ISBN 13

9780198037934

Some Necessary Angels

Essays on Writing and Politics

By: Jay Parini

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Some Necessary Angels

Essays on Writing and Politics

By: Jay Parini

Distinguished poet and novelist Jay Parini presents some of his best essays--both classic and unpublished works--on topics ranging from baseball to Frost and Emerson to the culture of creative writing. For aspiring writers, Some Necessary Angels is an illuminating glimpse into the workshop of a distinguished novelist and critic. For readers who share Parini's love of language, it is an invigorating expression of faith.

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Page Count

296

Publisher

Columbia University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0231110715

ISBN 13

9780231110716

New and Collected Poems: 1975-2015

By: Jay Parini

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New and Collected Poems: 1975-2015

By: Jay Parini

A new book, the first in over a decade, from acclaimed poet Jay Parini This volume revolves around his deep connection to nature and underlines his concerns about the impacts of pollution and climate change. In these beautiful, haunting poems, Parini writes about the landscapes of mining country, of the railroads of Pennsylvania, of farm country, of worlds lost and families dispersed. He explores faith and how it is tested. He limns the deepest crevices of the human heart and soul. He surprises and moves us. In addition to a complete volume’s worth of new work, called West Mountain Epilogue, offering more than fifty poems never before published in any form, Parini has collected the very best work from his previous four volumes, the poems, as he tells us, “written in the past forty years that I wish to stand by.’ Lavishly and deservingly praised over the decades for his work as an essayist, critic, biographer, novelist, and, especially, poet, Parini shines as never before in this generous volume.

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Page Count

250

Publisher

Beacon Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0807089036

ISBN 13

9780807089033

The Last Station

By: Jay Parini

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The Last Station

By: Jay Parini

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE Starring Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, & James McAvoy In 1910, Count Leo Tolstoy, the most famous writer in the world, is caught in the struggle between his devoted wife and an equally devoted acolyte over the master's legacy. Sofya Andreyevna fears that she and the children she has borne Tolstoy will lose all to Vladimir Chertkov and the Tolstoyan movement, which preaches the ideals of poverty, chastity, and pacifism. As Tolstoy seeks peace in his final days, Valentin Bulgakov is hired to be his secretary and enlisted as a spy by both camps. But Valentin's loyalty is to the great man, who in turn recognizes in the young idealist his own youthful struggle with worldly passions. Deftly moving among a colorful cast of characters, drawing on the writings of the people on whom they are based, Jay Parini has created a stunning portrait of an enduring genius and a deeply affecting novel.

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Page Count

306

Publisher

Anchor

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307741303

ISBN 13

9780307741301

Borges and Me

An Encounter

By: Jay Parini

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Borges and Me

An Encounter

By: Jay Parini

In this evocative work of what the author in his afterword calls “a kindof novelistic memoir,” Jay Parini takes us back fifty years, when he fled the United States for Scotland—in flight from the Vietnam War and desperately in search of his adult life. There, through unlikely circumstances, he meets the famed Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges. Borges—visiting his translator in Scotland—is in his seventies, blind and frail. When Borges hears that Parini owns a 1957 Morris Minor, he declares a long-held wish to visit the Highlands, where he hopes to meet a man in Inverness who is interested in Anglo-Saxon riddles. As they travel, stopping at various sites of historical interest, the charmingly garrulous Borges takes Parini on a grand tour of Western literature and ideas, while promising to teach him about love and poetry. As Borges’s idiosyncratic world of labyrinths, mirrors, and doubles shimmers into being, their escapades take a surreal turn. Borges and Me is a classic road novel, based on true events. It’s also a magical mystery tour of an era, like our own, in which uncertainties abound, and when—as ever—it’s the young and the old who hear voices and dream dreams.

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Page Count

321

Publisher

Anchor

Published Date

ISBN 10

198489949X

ISBN 13

9781984899491

Beyond the Godfather

Italian American Writers on the Real Italian American Experience

By: A. Kenneth Ciongoli,Jay Parini

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Beyond the Godfather

Italian American Writers on the Real Italian American Experience

By: A. Kenneth Ciongoli,Jay Parini

A long overdue collection of memoirs and scholarlyreflections on growing up Italian and American.

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Page Count

352

Publisher

UPNE

Published Date

ISBN 10

0874518881

ISBN 13

9780874518887

The Columbia History of American Poetry

By: Jay Parini

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The Columbia History of American Poetry

By: Jay Parini

-- New York Times Book Review

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Page Count

936

Publisher

Columbia University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0585041547

ISBN 13

9780585041544

Every Time a Friend Succeeds Something Inside Me Dies

The Life of Gore Vidal

By: Jay Parini

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Every Time a Friend Succeeds Something Inside Me Dies

The Life of Gore Vidal

By: Jay Parini

An intimate yet frank biography of Gore Vidal, one of the most accomplished, visible and controversial American novelists and cultural figures of the past century. The product of thirty years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini's biography probes behind the glittering surface of Vidal's colourful life to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truth underlying his celebrity-strewn life. But there is plenty of glittering surface as well - a virtual Who's Who of the American Century, from Eleanor Roosevelt on down. The life of Gore Vidal was an amazingly full one; a life of colourful incident, famous people and lasting achievements that calls out for careful evocation and examination. Through Jay Parini's eyes and words comes an accessible, entertaining story that puts the life and times of one of the great American figures of the post-war era into context, that introduces the author to a generation who didn't know him before and looks behind-the-scenes at the man and his work in frank ways never possible before his death. Parini, provided with unique access to Vidal's life and his papers, excavates buried skeletons, but never loses sight of his deep respect for Vidal and his astounding gifts.

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514

Publisher

Abacus

Published Date

ISBN 10

0349139407

ISBN 13

9780349139401

The Way of Jesus

Living a Spiritual and Ethical Life

By: Jay Parini

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The Way of Jesus

Living a Spiritual and Ethical Life

By: Jay Parini

Renowned poet and novelist Jay Parini’s The Way of Jesus is a book for progressive Christians and spiritual seekers who struggle, as Parini does, with some of the basic questions about human existence: its limits and sadnesses, and its possibilities for awareness and understanding. Part guide to Christian living, part spiritual autobiography, The Way of Jesus is Jay Parini’s exploration of what Jesus really meant, his effort to put love first in our daily lives. Called “one of those writers who can do anything” by Stacy Schiff in the New York Times Book Review, Parini—a lifelong Christian who has at times wavered and questioned his beliefs—recounts his own efforts to follow Jesus’s example, examines the contours of Christian thinking, and describes the solace and structure one can find in the rhythms of the church calendar. Parini’s refreshingly undogmatic approach to Christian thinking incorporates teachings from other religions, as well as from poets and other writers who have helped Parini along his path to understanding.

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Page Count

218

Publisher

Beacon Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0807047252

ISBN 13

9780807047255

One Matchless Time

A Life of William Faulkner

By: Jay Parini

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One Matchless Time

A Life of William Faulkner

By: Jay Parini

William Faulkner was a literary genius, and one of America's most important and influential writers. Drawing on previously unavailable sources -- including letters, memoirs, and interviews with Faulkner's daughter and lovers -- Jay Parini has crafted a biography that delves into the mystery of this gifted and troubled writer. His Faulkner is an extremely talented, obsessive artist plagued by alcoholism and a bad marriage who somehow transcends his limitations. Parini weaves the tragedies and triumphs of Faulkner's life in with his novels, serving up a biography that's as engaging as it is insightful.

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Page Count

524

Publisher

Harper Collins

Published Date

ISBN 10

0061751235

ISBN 13

9780061751233

The Patch Boys

By: Jay Parini

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The Patch Boys

By: Jay Parini

Fifteen-year-old Sammy di Cantini, resident of a mining region of Pennsylvania, is determined to rise above his class, falls disastrously in love with a Protestant, and visits his Mafia brother in New York where he becomes involved in impossible struggles.

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218

Publisher

Henry Holt

Published Date

ISBN 10

080500047X

ISBN 13

9780805000474

Empire of Self

A Life of Gore Vidal

By: Jay Parini

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Empire of Self

A Life of Gore Vidal

By: Jay Parini

An intimate, authorized yet totally frank biography of Gore Vidal (1925–2012), one of the most accomplished, visible, and controversial American novelists and cultural figures of the past century The product of thirty years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini’s Empire of Self digs behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal’s colorful career to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truths underlying his celebrity-strewn life. But there is plenty of glittering surface as well—a virtual Who’s Who of the twentieth century, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart through the Kennedys, Johnny Carson, Leonard Bernstein, and the crème de la crème of Hollywood. Also a generous helping of feuds with the likes of William F. Buckley, Norman Mailer, Truman Capote, and The New York Times, among other adversaries. The life of Gore Vidal teemed with notable incidents, famous people, and lasting achievements that call out for careful evocation and examination. Jay Parini crafts Vidal’s life into an accessible, entertaining story that puts the experience of one of the great American figures of the postwar era into context, introduces the author and his works to a generation who may not know him, and looks behind the scenes at the man and his work in ways never possible before his death. Provided with unique access to Vidal’s life and his papers, Parini excavates many buried skeletons yet never loses sight of his deep respect for Vidal and his astounding gifts. This is the biography Gore Vidal—novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, historian, wit, provocateur, and pioneer of gay rights—has long needed.

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514

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Anchor

Published Date

ISBN 10

0345805836

ISBN 13

9780345805836

Why Poetry Matters

By: Axinn Professor of English Jay Parini,Jay Parini

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Why Poetry Matters

By: Axinn Professor of English Jay Parini,Jay Parini

This deeply felt meditation on poetry, its language and meaning, and its power to open minds and transform lives examines the importance of poetry and its diverse applications in the world.

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Page Count

217

Publisher

Yale University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0300124236

ISBN 13

9780300124231

The Apprentice Lover

A Novel

By: Jay Parini

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The Apprentice Lover

A Novel

By: Jay Parini

“Delightful ... a rich cast of characters ... Parini does a superb job.” — San Francisco Chronicle “[Parini] expertly navigates this multilayered narrative.” — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “Pleasure-filled ... Parini writes lovingly and evocatively.” — Los Angeles Times “Richly compelling ... Parini renders the mentor-apprentice dynamic with great sensitivity.” — Bookreporter.com

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Page Count

322

Publisher

Harper Collins

Published Date

ISBN 10

0061738026

ISBN 13

9780061738029

Promised Land

Thirteen Books That Changed America

By: Jay Parini

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Promised Land

Thirteen Books That Changed America

By: Jay Parini

In this lively exploration of America’s intellectual heritage, acclaimed poet, novelist, and critic Jay Parini celebrates the life and times of thirteen books that helped shape the American psyche. Moving nimbly between the great watersheds in American letters—including Walden, Huckleberry Finn, The Souls of Black Folk, and On the Road—Parini demonstrates how these books entered American life and altered how we think and act in the world. An immensely readable and vibrant work of cultural history, Promised Land exposes the rich literary foundation of our culture, and is sure to appeal to all book lovers and students of the American character alike.

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Page Count

402

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Anchor

Published Date

ISBN 10

030738618X

ISBN 13

9780307386182

The Passages of H.M.

A Novel of Herman Melville

By: Jay Parini

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The Passages of H.M.

A Novel of Herman Melville

By: Jay Parini

With the same masterly touch that made The Last Station so powerful, Jay Parini penetrates the mind and soul of another literary titan. Through the eyes of his long-suffering wife, Lizzie, we are introduced to an aging, angry, and drunken Herman Melville. He is decades past his flourishing career as a writer of bestselling tales of seagoing adventures. His epic but ungainly Moby-Dick was meant to make him immortal, but critics scoffed and readers fled. He spends his days trudging the docks of New York as a customs inspector and contemplating his malign literary fate. But within him is stirring, perhaps, one great work yet. . . . In a narrative that shifts seamlessly between Lizzie’s personal account and evocative snapshots of Melville’s crowded life, Parini manages to humanize a giant of letters, while illuminating the source of his matchless creativity.

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466

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Anchor

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ISBN 10

0307386198

ISBN 13

9780307386199

The Damascus Road

A Novel of Saint Paul

By: Jay Parini

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The Damascus Road

A Novel of Saint Paul

By: Jay Parini

From the author of the international bestseller The Last Station, a superb historical novel of the Apostle Paul, whose tireless and epic preaching of the message of Jesus brought Christianity into existence and changed human history forever. In the years after Christ's crucifixion, Paul of Tarsus, a prosperous tentmaker and Jewish scholar, took it upon himself to persecute the small groups of his followers that sprung up. But on the road to Damascus, he had some sort of blinding vision, a profound conversion experience that transformed Paul into the most effective and influential messenger Christianity has ever had. In The Damascus Road novelist Jay Parini brings this fascinating and ever-controversial figure to full human life, capturing his visionary passions and vast contradictions. In relating Paul's epic journeys, both geographical and spiritual, he unfolds a vivid panorama of the ancient world on the verge of epochal change. And in the alternating voice of the Gospel writer Luke, Paul's travel companion, scribe, and ghostwriter, a cooler perspective on his actions and beliefs emerges -- ironic but still filled with wonder at Paul's unshakable commitment to the Christ and his divinity.

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381

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Anchor

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ISBN 10

0385538405

ISBN 13

9780385538404

Promised Land

Thirteen Books That Changed America

By: Jay Parini

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Promised Land

Thirteen Books That Changed America

By: Jay Parini

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402

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Anchor

Published Date

ISBN 10

030738618X

ISBN 13

9780307386182

The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature

By: Jay Parini

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The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature

By: Jay Parini

This set treats the whole of American literature, from the European discovery of America to the present, with entries in alphabetical order. Each of the 350 substantive essays is a major interpretive contribution. Well-known critics and scholars provide clear and vividly written essays thatreflect the latest scholarship on a given topic, as well as original thinking on the part of the critic. The Encyclopedia is available in print and as an e-reference text from Oxford's Digital Reference Shelf.At the core of the encyclopedia lie 250 essays on poets, playwrights, essayists, and novelists. The most prominent figures (such as Whitman, Melville, Faulkner, Frost, Morrison, and so forth) are treated at considerable length (10,000 words) by top-flight critics. Less well known figures arediscussed in essays ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 words. Each essay examines the life of the author in the context of his or her times, looking in detail at key works and describing the arc of the writer's career. These essays include an assessment of the writer's current reputation with abibliography of major works by the writer as well as a list of major critical and biographical works about the writer under discussion.A second key element of the project is the critical assessments of major American masterworks, such as Moby-Dick, Song of Myself, Walden, The Great Gatsby, The Waste Land, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Death of a Salesmanr, or Beloved. Each of these essays offers a close reading of the given work,placing that work in its historical context and offering a range of possibilities with regard to critical approach. These fifty essays (ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 words) are simply and clearly enough written that an intelligent high school student should easily understand them, but sophisticatedenough that a college student or general reader in a public library will find the essays both informative and stimulating.The final major element of this encyclopedia consists of fifty-odd essays on literary movements, periods, or themes, pulling together a broad range of information and making interesting connections. These essays treat many of the same authors already discussed, but in a different context; they alsogather into the fold authors who do not have an entire essay on their work (so that Zane Grey, for example, is discussed in an essay on Western literature but does not have an essay to himself). In this way, the project is truly "encyclopedic," in the conventional sense. These essays aim forcomprehensiveness without losing anything of the narrative force that makes them good reading in their own right.In a very real fashion, the literature of the American people reflects their deepest desires, aspirations, fears, and fantasies. The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature gathers a wide range of information that illumines the field itself and clarifies many of its particulars.

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