The Bars of Atlantis: Selected Essays

A map of poet and essayist Grünbein's mind using markers from these essays might plot a path from his native Dresden, where a mountain of garbage was the source of his poetry, through Sienna's Piazza del Campo, the town square that has most inspired him, down to oceanic depths and its denizens, “the oldest designs on the theme of 'fish,' ” and to mythical Atlantis. As Grünbein (Ashes for Breakfast: Selected Poems ) ranges from biology through history, architecture, metaphysics, language, and literature, his quirky humor is revealed by incisive juxtapositions. He confirms “evolution's politics of thrift” by comparing crabs' vestigial eyes with a broken-down bus converted to a dwelling in a Third World slum. The translators, poets themselves, render Grünbein's thoughts into expressive, fast-paced passages. Grünbein describes poetry as “lessons in accelerated consciousness” and a “novel in fragmentary form.” He provides pyrotechnics aplenty in this remarkable collection. 6 b&w illus. (Apr.)