{"product_id":"the-more-easily-kept-illusions-the-poetry-of-al-purdy-9780889204904","title":"The More Easily Kept Illusions: The Poetry of Al Purdy","description":"\u003cp\u003e Much-loved, cantankerous, and brilliant, Al Purdy galloped across the Canadian literary landscape for decades, grandly embodying the self-taught and hard-living image of the 1960s and '70s poet. \u003ci\u003eThe More Easily Kept Illusions: The Poetry of Al Purdy\u003c\/i\u003e is a selection of thirty-five poems that includes some of his best-loved and unearths lost and ignored treasures. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Robert Budde introduces the collection with an overview of Purdy's tumultuous life of letters, his legendary personality, his outrageous antics, his peers, his influences, and the history of his publishing career. Reorganizing Purdy's body of work, this collection also re-interprets the chronological and thematic development of his writing. Choosing poems for a book like this is necessarily an act of literary criticism and Budde takes care to balance the various critical attentions that have structured the historical responses to Purdy's work. The selected poems will mix lesser-known gems with Purdy's greatest hits. Teachers, poetry-lovers, students, and writers will rediscover Purdy's unique voice. Those who are new to his work will get a full and rich sense of the man some have called the last Canadian poet. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Also includes an Afterword by Russell Morton Brown. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePurdy, Al:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAl Purdy's\u003c\/b\u003e down-to-earth voice populates thirty-three books, including \u003ci\u003eThe Cariboo Horses\u003c\/i\u003e (1965), \u003ci\u003eNorth of Summer\u003c\/i\u003e (1967), \u003ci\u003eSex \u0026amp; Death\u003c\/i\u003e (1973), and \u003ci\u003ePiling Blood\u003c\/i\u003e (1984). The two major collections of his work are \u003ci\u003eThe Collected Poems of Al Purdy\u003c\/i\u003e (1986) and \u003ci\u003eBeyond Remembering: The Collected Poems of Al Purdy\u003c\/i\u003e (2000). Purdy died in Sidney, BC, on April 21, 2000.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBudde, Robert:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRobert Budde\u003c\/b\u003e teaches creative writing and critical theory at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George. He has published four books (two poetry--\u003ci\u003eCatch as Catch\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003etraffick\u003c\/i\u003e, and two novels--\u003ci\u003eMisshapen\u003c\/i\u003e and, most recently, \u003ci\u003eThe Dying Poem\u003c\/i\u003e). He maintains two online literary journals at and .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBrown, Russell Morton:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRussell Morton Brown\u003c\/b\u003e is a professor in the department of English at the University of Toronto. An editor for the \u003ci\u003eUniversity of Toronto Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e, the editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Collected Poems of Al Purdy\u003c\/i\u003e, and co-editor with Donna Bennett of the \u003ci\u003eNew Anthology of Canadian Literature in English\u003c\/i\u003e, he was also Editorial Director of Poetry at McClelland and Stewart for five years.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wilfrid Laurier University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50414220574994,"sku":"9780889204904","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f238576a-7a20-4dda-8e9c-3e6885d47477.jpg?v=1729362490","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-more-easily-kept-illusions-the-poetry-of-al-purdy-9780889204904","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}