The Alphabet of Desire

by Barbara Hamby

In this sublime and imposing book of poetry, Barbara Hamby races through the circuitous regions of Heaven and Hell, desire and love, giving shape and significance to the strange and the familiar. Her book ignites with a proclamation, "In the beginning was the word, fanning out into syllables, like a deck of cards on a table in Vegas, lovely leafy parts fluttering into atoms and cells, genus and phylum, nouns and verbs;" an easy metaphor for her intoxicating linguistic machinations.
Hamby's roaming, inquisitive mind reels in the reader, "I'm persuaded the day will come when I'll lie static as a falcon in a hunter's sack, fragments of iron studding my reckless breast." Not limited to the self-referential, Hamby playfully references historic and literary personae, taking stabs at Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Bible and Casanova. "Who wouldn't," she challenges us, "give anything for the voice of an angel and wings to fly above the rough dirt of birth?"

Genres: Poetry, Literary Fiction

1 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1999

About the author

Barbara Hamby was born in New Orleans and raised in Hawai’i. She now lives in Tallahassee, Florida. She teaches creative writing in the English Department at Florida State University.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luscuious and rich poems. Nibble only a crumb at a time. For your own good.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love her!! Hamby's winningingly verbose and overstuffed poems are ecstatic with a capital X.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astounding collection--nostalgic, narrative, intelligent, musical, and--best of all--Hamby takes incredibly energetic leaps in her poems, so you start at one place and have no idea where this poem is going to thrust you next. It's a real pleasure to read.

[Mistie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barbara Hamby is a wonderful poet. This book is delightful from the first poem to the last one.

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely one of my favorite poets.

[FSU Alumni]

Barbara Hamby (B.A. '78, M.A. '81)

[Shila Iris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely structured poetry.