Books by James (W. W. Norton

A book about belief - not belief in the unknowable but belief in what seems bewilderingly plain. Pondering the bodies we inhabit, the words we speak, these poems aims to discover infinitude in the most familiar places.

A skilled study in which each chapter brings a fresh perspective to a crucial aspect of poetry, showing that the power of language depends less on meaning than on the way in which it means. The author argues that poetry is its own best enemy.