Overview

"Charles O. Hartman's eighth book of poems, Downfall of the Straight Line, vibrates with dazzling rhythms, masterful syntax, linguistic wit, and descriptions that are precise and surprising at the same time. From a dead backyard tree to a Greek city, from a lovers' bed to a lost lover, the poems display both intellectual depth and emotional complexity. We hear the voices of pianos, a donkey, and the supernova birthing the Crab Nebula; we watch as the poet scrutinizes the moon, and listen as he contemplates death, ""a sudden change in plans for the afternoon."" Hartman wastes no words: every stanza shows a nimble mind at work. Downfall of the Straight Line is a book to read with attention and delight. And then to read again."

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"""Charles O. Hartman's singular grasp of musical possibilities is what makes his new collection of poems, Downfall of the Straight Line, such a thrilling read. For his 'rehearsals/ of the opulent impromptu, ' as he writes in his dramatic monologue, 'The Pianos, ' inevitably lead to revelations about the ways in which our most essential relationships contain their own time and key signatures, rhythms, and melodies. Lovers create 'a song of sorts, a currency: words we knew.' Hartman has a gift for charting 'the niceties of geometry, ' wherever they may be found - in the sky, on the water, in the beloved's gestures. He writes, 'here are keys but to what kingdom.' The answers ring out from every page of this astonishing book."" -Christopher Merrill Past Praise for Charles O. Hartman: ""Charles Hartman's poems are never predictable, always absorbing. I have been a fan for twenty years.""-James Merrill ""Charles O. Hartman writes with clear authority and wit. His poems are a gracefully intelligent surmise of life and its accumulations, of how we did or didn't get here.""-Robert Creeley ""Charles O. Hartman is a musician's poet. Those of us who spend our time looking for melodies, and for ways to hang them together, recognize that same impulse in his work; his poems sound like the best Tin Pan Alley songs, graceful and concise. His cadences are as unforced as Lester Young's, and his language as refined. These verses sing.""-Steve Swallow"

Author Information

Charles O. Hartman has published seven previous collections, including New & Selected Poems (Ahsahta); a textbook (Verse: An Introduction to Prosody, Wiley-Blackwell); and three books of critical prose (Free Verse, Jazz Text, and Virtual Muse). He co-edited the volume on Wendy Battin for the Unsung Masters series. He is Professor and Poet in Residence Emeritus at Connecticut College. He plays jazz guitar.

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