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The Many Hundreds of the Scent

Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Many Hundreds of the Scent by Shane McCrae explores themes of memory and identity through a fusion of autobiography and poetic reflection. The author intricately weaves personal experiences and historical contexts to question the nature of perception and existence. It is an evocative work within the Arts & Culture category, providing a rich tapestry of imagery and emotion.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

If you appreciate contemporary explorations of identity and culture through a poetic lens, this compelling work may capture your interest. Shane McCrae intricately weaves themes of history, memory, and personal reflection, offering a profound look at the complexities of human experience. Its artistic and insightful narrative could resonate with those who enjoy delving deep into the nuances of language and emotion.

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The stunning new collection from prize-winning poet Shane McCrae is his most personal collection yet

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A TELEGRAPH BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

'One of the most erudite and inventive poets of our time' Guardian

Shane McCrae, one of the most powerful voices in contemporary poetry, returns with The Many Hundreds of the Scent, an urgent new collection that brims with lyric force. He expands both the poetic and the personal mythologies that he has been constructing over the course of his career; in addition to introducing his readers to 'the thin king / who eats the world,' McCrae invites them to bear witness to his tangle of childhood memories. In brutal, sorrowful lines, he recounts being kidnapped by his white supremacist maternal grandparents from his Black father as a boy. 'O reader, listener, stay,' McCrae writes. 'You are now evidence.'

In The Many Hundreds of the Scent, Homeric figures mingle with those that populate the poet's world. Helen weighs Paris's spear in her hand and bloodies a raging Achilles; Penelope burns her loom each night; Dido watches Aeneas's ship burn on the horizon. A strikingly original and engaging poet, McCrae continually surprises - the collection includes a series of poems about the advent of post-rock and Hex, the debut album of the band Bark Psychosis.

With this collection, he has once more crafted an extraordinarily affecting book of poetry. As Kate Kellaway writes in the Guardian, 'In McCrae's hands, poetry is reclamation. It is also transport: writing a way out and through.'

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Many Hundreds of the Scent by Shane McCrae captivates readers with its rich use of language, with words described as being as intricate and flavourful as perfectly steeped tea leaves. This work defies simple paraphrasing, demanding to be experienced in its original form to fully appreciate the depth of its poetry.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781472158031

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 23 November 2023

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Corsair

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 12.0mm

Width: 134.0mm

Height: 214.0mm

Weight: 123g

Pages: 96

About the Author

Shane McCrae's most recent books are Cain Named the Animal (2022) Sometimes I Never Suffered (2020) which was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize, The Gilded Auction Block (2019) and In the Language of My Captor (Wesleyan University Press, 2017), which won the 2018 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Poetry, and was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the William Carlos Williams Award. He has received a Whiting Writer's Award, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Lannan Literary Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in New York City and teaches at Columbia University.

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