Faster Than Light: New and Selected Poems, 1996-2011

I couldn't put this book down. Every poem took me to another place. It was a real page turner that left me wanting more of the past, more of the present, more of the future. Simply the best. Faster than Light is a modern masterpiece.

Such a glorious collection of Marilyn Nelson's work! Collecting previously published and newer work, this volume provides a precious introduction to this rare American master of letters. It's a delight to have many of her best known poems ("A Wreath for Emmett Till" and the Carver sequence for example) alongside such powerful new work. I was especially taken by the captivating strength of poems like "For the Confederate Dead" and "A Igreja Do Nossa Senhor Do Bonfim" which literally made me gasp aloud. The work collected in Faster Than Light reveal Nelson's ability to bare the profound and painful historical truth with an aching beautiful humility. This is the kind of book to read and savor, to contemple a poem at a time, the meaning in memory that Nelson has placed on the page with such precision.