Evolution

Description

Evolution - the first all-new collection of poems by Eileen Myles since the selected volume I Must Be Living Twice - finds the celebrated writer at the forefront of American literature and culture, crafting radically introspective work in the characteristically exuberant style that the New York Times called 'one of the essential voices in American poetry.' Following the critically acclaimed Afterglow (a dog memoir), the poet continues their lifelong inquiry into the mystery and miracle of human life, in its mutability and temporality. 'I suppose / I'm afraid / of forever,' Myles writes in 'Angel', and this existential restlessness pervades the collection. With incisive humour and heartfelt honesty, these poems reconcile the body's brevity in light of time's limitlessness, exemplified in the title piece, 'Evolution'.

Eileen Myles is the author of more than twenty books, including Chelsea Girls, Cool for You, and most recently, Afterglow: a dog memoir. Their many honours include a Guggenheim Fellowship in nonfiction, four Lambda Literary Awards, the Clark Prize for Excellence in Art Writing, the Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, and their poems were featured in seasons two and three of the Emmy-winning show Transparent. They live in Marfa, Texas, and New York City.

I loved Evolution by Eileen Myles: poems that lope along, chatty, restless and limber. -- Olivia Laing * New Statesman * Eileen Myles's essential poetry is the hip kid leaning against their locker secretly burning with intensity, the smartest boy in the class who doesn't care he has a scar down his face, the thing you just wish you'd said. -- Lena Dunham Myles's poetry is kinetic, ecstatic, muscular, hilarious, sorrowful, valiant, original, necessary, and timeless. -- Maggie Nelson Myles is often referred to as an 'institution' - the way one speaks of a terrific restaurant that's endured the waves of gentrification as a 'New York institution.' But the word bounces off her: there is nothing official about her, nothing staid or still. -- Ben Lerner * Paris Review * Part of Myles's enduring appeal is that she's experimental in the true sense of the word; every time you turn around, she's up to something different . . . People have started using the word legend when talking about her life and work. * New York Magazine * Myles forces a cultural and a literary reckoning with her life on her own terms, demanding understanding, the text held to the reader's throat. * Los Angeles Review of Books *