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Live Oak, with Moss

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( 544 ratings, 119 reviews)
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
As he approached his fortieth birthday, Walt Whitman composed twelve intimate poems in a handmade manuscript titled Live Oak, With Moss. These pieces delve deeply into his feelings of attraction and affection for other men, exploring same-sex love with a candour unprecedented for his time. This extraordinary collection remained unpublished and largely unknown until now. The acclaimed illustrator Brian Selznick brings a visual narrative to these poems, while Whitman scholar Karen Karbiener uncovers the history behind their creation and near destruction, offering readers a unique window into Whitman's private and revolutionary reflections.
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Format: Hardback
$5000
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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?

This beautifully crafted volume will appeal to readers interested in poetry, LGBTQ+ literature, and American cultural history, as well as admirers of Walt Whitman’s work and Brian Selznick’s illustrative artistry.

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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

As he was turning forty, Walt Whitman wrote twelve poems in a small handmade book he entitled Live Oak, with Moss. The poems were intensely private reflections on his attraction to and affection for other men. They were also Whitman's most adventurous explorations of the theme of same-sex love, composed decades before the word "homosexual" came into use.

This revolutionary, extraordinarily beautiful and passionate cluster of poems was never published by Whitman and has remained unknown to the general publicβ€”until now.

New York Times bestselling and Caldecott Award-winning illustrator Brian Selznick offers a provocative visual narrative of Live Oak, with Moss, and Whitman scholar Karen Karbiener reconstructs the story of the poetic cluster's creation and destruction.

Walt Whitman's reassembled, reinterpreted Live Oak, with Moss serves as a source of inspiration and a cause for celebration.

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?

β€œIn harmony, the art, the poems, and the analysis all honor while illuminating Whitman’s work and make it more accessible to contemporary readers.” — Publishers Weekly
β€œReading this book, what becomes eminently clear is that Selznick is laying the groundwork for GLBTQIA+ literary history, particularly as it pertains to Whitman.” — School Library Journal

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781419734052

Publisher: Abrams

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 09 April 2019

Country: United States

Imprint: Abrams ComicArts

Contributors:

  • Illustrated by Brian Selznick
  • Afterword by Karen Karbiener

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 210.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 192

About the Author

Walt Whitman is one of the most beloved poets in American letters, best known for his Leaves of Grass. Brian Selznick is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck, among many other beloved books for children. Live Oak, with Moss is his first book for adults. He lives in Brooklyn and San Diego. Karen Karbiener is a Whitman scholar at New York University. She lives in Manhattan.

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