cover image Songs of Innocence and Experience: 2essays in Celebration of the Ordinary

Songs of Innocence and Experience: 2essays in Celebration of the Ordinary

Christopher De Vinck. Viking Books, $19.95 (192pp) ISBN 978-0-670-85294-9

In poems and essays rooted in his personal life, de Vinck ( Only the Heart Knows How to Find Them ) urges that we ``remember the innocence that was born deep inside ourselves.'' He considers the joys and demands of marriage, parenthood and work as he reflects on moments in his childhood, those with his own children and his efforts as a writer, suggesting that we strive for a balance between our innocence and the ``passionate intensity'' with which we shape our lives. ``How we live between the extremes of innocence and experience will determine the quality and tone of the songs we sing during the ordinary times of our quiet lives,'' he observes in these uplifting reflections. (May)