Book cover of My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer

Book description

Eight years ago, Christian Wiman, a well-known poet and the editor of Poetry magazine, wrote a now-famous essay about having faith in the face of death. My Bright Abyss, composed in the difficult years since and completed in the wake of a bone marrow transplant, is a moving meditation on…

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Why read it?

1 author picked My Bright Abyss as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Wiman writes about human suffering, pain, poetry, and faith, subjects that do not often and ordinarily coalesce. He is familiar with and eloquent about the mutability of belief, about knowledge, and contingency. “Experience lives in the transitions,” he states. If there is a sense of urgency in his thinking here, there is also a sense of lightness, nuance, conjecture, and intimacy too, all of which are suited to the gravity of his subjects.

From Akiko's list on essays by poets.

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A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

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