ETERNAL ENEMIES

One of the most gifted and readable poets of his time, Adam Zagajewski isproving to be a contemporary classic. Few writers in either poetry orprose can be said to have attained the lucid intelligence and limpideconomy of style that have become a matter of course with Zagajewski. Itis these qualities, combined with his wry humor, gentle skepticism, andperpetual sense of history's dark possibilities, that have earned him adevoted international following. This collection, gracefully translated byClare Cavanagh, finds the poet reflecting on place, language, and history.Especially moving here are his tributes to writers, friends known inperson or in books—people such as Milosz and Sebald, Brodsky andBlake—which intermingle naturally with portraits of family membersand loved ones. ETERNAL ENEMIES is a luminous meeting of art and everydaylife.