This book offers a detailed look into the life and works of Pulitzer Prize-winning Jewish American poet George Oppen. Born in 1908 in New York State, Oppen spent parts of his life working as a die cutter and carpenter and later running a furniture factory. Like the work he did with his hands during those years, his poetry used basic materials; he favored short, simple nouns and focused on concrete objects rather than abstractions. This book examines the characteristics of Oppen's work, particularly his use of small and often odd phrasings and unusual line formations to express the ultimately...