The Book

The generic title of this beguiling compendium of prose from poet Ruefle (Dunce) belies the richness and variety within. The fragmentary entries touch on an eclectic array of topics and range in length from a few lines to several pages, but they all demonstrate a poet’s eye for brevity and language. The title piece celebrates the intimacy of reading books that feel as if they were “written especially for me.” In “The Photograph,” Ruefle describes a photo of an anonymous ancestor of hers from unknown generations past and rhapsodizes about the bond that photos enable between viewer and subject. Ruefle turns from amusement to melancholy on a dime, best exemplified in “The Perk,” in which the author describes throwing her 50-year-old husband a “child’s birthday party,” complete with a clown who later, after losing his job as an entertainer and trying to kill himself, turns up at the hospital where her husband, a doctor, works. Showcasing the mystery and power of Ruefle’s spare writing, “Chilly Observation” describes a woman being served at a table on a beach as the tide comes in and the water creeps up her legs, concluding with the enigmatic line: “People often wonder what it is like to be old, and a few actually ask.” The potent pieces resist easy interpretation, sparkling with the suggestiveness of Ruefle’s poetry. Readers will marvel at the results. (Sept.)