Cinema of the Present

Robertson proves hard to explain but easy to enjoy. . . . Dauntlessly and resourcefully intellectual, Robertson can also be playful or blunt. . . . She wields language expertly, even beautifully.--The New York Times

What if the cinema of the present were a M bius strip of language, a montage of statements and questions sutured together and gradually accumulating color? Would the seams afford a new sensibility around the pronoun you? Would the precise words of philosophy, fashion, books, architecture, and history animate a new vision, gestural and oblique? Is the kinetic pronoun cinema?

These and other questions are answered in the new collection from acclaimed poet and essayist Lisa Robertson. The book is available with four different back covers, designed by artists Hadley+Maxwell.

A quorum of crows will be your witness.

And if you discover you were bought?

You note the smell of rain, bread, and exhaust mixed with tiredness.

And if you yourself are incompatible with your view of the world?

And what is the subject but a stitching?

Once again you are the one who promotes artifice.

At 2 am on Friday, you burn with a maudlin premonition.

And rankings and rankings and badges and repetitions.

Lisa Robertson's book Lisa Robertson's Magenta Soul Whip was named one of the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2010 and was longlisted for the 2011 Warwick Prize. Her other books include Debbie: An Epic, The Men, The Weather, and Occasional Work and Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture. She is the 2014 Bain Swiggett Professor at Princeton University.


Author: Lisa Robertson
Publisher: Coach House Books
Published: 10/07/2014
Pages: 112
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.40w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781552452974


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 09/15/2014
Quill & Quire 12/01/2014 pg. 39

About the Author
Lisa Robertson: Poet and essayist Lisa Robertson's book Lisa Robertson's Magenta Soul Whip (Coach House) was named one of The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2010, and was longlisted for the 2011 Warwick Prize for Writing. Her other books include Debbie: An Epic (nominated for the Governor General's Award in Canada), The Men and The Weather (poetry) and Occasional Works and Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture (essays). Her most recent publication is R's Boat, published by University of California Press. She is the Bain Swiggett Professor at Princeton University. She has held residencies at the California College of the Arts, Cambridge University; University of California, Berkeley; UC San Diego; and American University of Paris.