That This

That This merges poetry with visual art and collage in an experimental form that defies traditional genre boundaries. The book consists of three sections, each approaching grief and loss through different techniques and formats. The opening section uses prose fragments to document experiences following the death of the author's husband. The middle portion incorporates photograms by artist James Welling, while the final section presents poems alongside reproductions of archival manuscripts. Howe's work links personal mourning to broader historical and philosophical questions about documentation, memory, and what remains after loss. The interplay between text, image, and white space creates a meditation on presence and absence that resists conventional narrative structure.

Readers describe That This as an experimental poetry collection that blends visual elements, prose, and verse to explore grief and loss. The book's reception on Goodreads shows a 4.19/5 average rating from 163 ratings. Readers appreciated: - The innovative use of white space and typography - Integration of archival materials and photographs - Raw emotional power in addressing death of spouse - Precise language choices Common criticisms: - Difficulty following fragmented narrative structure - Abstract nature makes meaning hard to grasp - Visual elements don't translate well to ebook format One reader noted: "The collision of historical documents with personal grief creates something entirely new." Another wrote: "The experimental format occasionally obscures rather than enhances." Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 4.19/5 (163 ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (12 reviews) LibraryThing: 4.0/5 (8 ratings)

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🔖 That This was published in 2010, shortly after the sudden death of Susan Howe's husband, philosopher Peter Hare, and explores themes of grief, loss, and the intersection of personal and historical archives. 📚 The book combines multiple forms of expression, including prose, poetry, and visual elements, with reproductions of historical documents and photograms by artist James Welling. 🖋️ Susan Howe's innovative use of typography and white space in That This continues her trademark style of breaking traditional poetic conventions, reflecting her background in visual arts before becoming a poet. 📖 The work references several historical figures, including Jonathan Edwards and Sarah Edwards, connecting 18th-century American Puritan thought with contemporary meditation on loss and faith. 🏆 That This won the Bollingen Prize in American Poetry, one of the most prestigious awards in American literature, with judges praising its "powerful articulation of loss and grief."