Eratosphere Forums - Metrical Poetry, Free Verse, Fiction, Art, Critique, Discussions Able Muse - a review of poetry, prose and art

Forum Left Top

Notices

Reply
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Unread 11-21-2022, 01:46 PM
Orwn Acra Orwn Acra is online now
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 2,337
Default Etymologies Available for Pre-Order!

My book is available for pre-order!

https://ucp-press-web10.uchicago.edu...196817685.html

Here's a blurb from Cathy Park Hong:

"Walter Ancarrow's fabulist maxims are laced with surprises. His entries are either notational or so profound, they seem etched in stone: 'We live between impermanences of language—building a home is settling on translation.' Etymologies are glorious distillations of mischief and erudition."

And here's one from John Keene (who just won the National Book Award in poetry):

"With Etymologies, Ancarrow returns us to the source and medium of all literary art: language itself. Formally playful, brimming with knowledge, and a poetic event with the subtle, yet dazzling contours of a puzzle, this collection unveils new insights on every page. Etymologies marks a marvelous debut!"

And here is John Yau's foreword, which goes into more depth:

"Etymology—the study of the origin of words—has had many lives. In Plato’s Cratylus, Hermogenes took the position that nothing but local or national convention determines which words are used to designate which objects. He recognized that language was a set of conventions or, what Ludwig Wittgenstein called, “devices.” The same names could have been attached to quite different objects, and the same objects given quite different names, so long as the users of the language agreed upon their usage. He seems to have been a literalist.

Cratylus took the opposite position. He believed that names were embodiments of the object’s essential identity, and that if you referred to something by a name other than its natural one, you failed to refer to it. In Plato’s dialogue, Socrates’s own position has engendered much discussion among scholars without leading to any consensus, as he seems to either side with Cratylus or mock him or perhaps both, all while not quite fully rejecting Hermogenes. Did the ancients encode each word with meanings, which are waiting to be unlocked by a future reader? What stories does the changing usage of a word tell us? What has shaped their usage?

In Etymologies, Walter Ancarrow writes up his findings of words, such as caravan, pumpernickel, and sequoia. Out of his choices the reader will sense a moiré pattern of associations emerging, at once particular and elusive. We seem to see it, but we cannot fix it in our mind’s eye. Ancarrow combines extreme precision with a wild imagination. In a note at the end of the book, he writes: “The etymologies in this book are correct, though not necessarily complete, sometimes poetically so.” And therein lies the magic of Etymologies. The author seems to have made nothing up, to have been, it would appear, coolly objective throughout the writing of each study of a word’s origin. And yet, despite this claim, which I do not doubt, feelings and fancifulness emerge—like a swarm of genies freed from many bottles—at once impish, amatory, mysterious, provocative, funny, delightful, and dazzling."

I love how everyone calls the book puzzle-like and mischievous.

(Not so in love with UCP's summary, but so much of this process has been learning what I can control and not.)

Last edited by Orwn Acra; 11-21-2022 at 06:42 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Unread 11-21-2022, 03:31 PM
Rose Novick's Avatar
Rose Novick Rose Novick is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2022
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 118
Default

Ordered!

Link in the OP is broken FYI; had to google it. But this one should work: https://ucp-press-web10.uchicago.edu...196817685.html
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Unread 11-21-2022, 05:31 PM
John Riley John Riley is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 6,238
Default

Ordered my copy.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Unread 11-22-2022, 04:07 AM
Matt Q Matt Q is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: England, UK
Posts: 4,988
Default

Congrats Walter! Excellent news. I do like the cover (I seem to remember you saying you were arguing with them about it -- did you win?).

I'd pre-order, but I'm a bit wary of committing to unspecified amounts of trans-Atlantic postage and tax. Hopefully it'll be available in the UK when it comes out.

Matt
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Unread 11-23-2022, 06:24 AM
Orwn Acra Orwn Acra is online now
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 2,337
Default

Thats everyone. I've changed the link.

Matt, I did get the cover I wanted! I'm still fiddling with proportions for the final version, but yes that's the design. The book will be available on Amazon at some point, and perhaps when it's actually published or at least sent to the printer they will know the shipping rate.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump



Forum Right Top
Forum Left Bottom Forum Right Bottom
 
Right Left
Member Login
Forgot password?
Forum LeftForum Right


Forum Statistics:
Forum Members: 8,399
Total Threads: 21,839
Total Posts: 270,792
There are 2180 users
currently browsing forums.
Forum LeftForum Right


Forum Sponsor:
Donate & Support Able Muse / Eratosphere
Forum LeftForum Right
Right Right
Right Bottom Left Right Bottom Right

Hosted by ApplauZ Online