Book of a Hundred Hands

The hand is second only to language in defining the human being, and its constant presence makes it a ready reminder of our humanity, with all its privileges and obligations. In this dazzling collection, Cole Swensen explores the hand from any angle approachable by language and art. Her hope: to exhaust the hand as subject matter; her joy: the fact that she couldn't. These short poems reveal the hand from a hundred different perspectives. Incorporating sign language, drawing manuals, paintings from the 14th to the 20th century, shadow puppets, imagined histories, positions (the "e;hand as a boatless sail"e;), and professions ("e;the hand as window in which the panes infinitesimal"e;), Cole Swensen's fine hand is "e;that which augments"e; our understanding and appreciation of "e;this freak wing,"e; this "e;wheel that comforts none"e; yet remains "e;a fruit the size and shape of the heart."e;