Stephen Dobyns

In Best Words, Best Order, Stephen Dobyns explains the mystery of the poet's work and the ability of poetry to communicate thoughts and feelings between the writer and the reader. Through essays on memory and metaphor, pacing and the intricacies of voice and tone, and thoughtful appreciations of Chekhov, Ritsos, Mandelstam, and Rilke, Dobyns guides readers and writers through poetry's mysterious twilight communiques. Dobyns, a poet and teacher, has the rare ability to speak to readers about his art. Anyone interested in the beauty and intricacy of writing will find pleasure in Best Words, Best Order.

Featuring Charlie Bradshaw, the local cop turned private eye, and his politically incorrect pal Victor Plotz, the action centers on the drama of the horse auctions, replete with julep-drinking gentry, high-money buyers, and fast-talking auctioneers. Victor Plotz (call-me-Vic) once again holds the reins of narration. This time around - money-making schemes having gone awry - Vic takes on a security job at the Horse Pavilion. A nothing job, you might say, but pretty soon things begin to happen. Someone is tracking Vic in a lime green Volkswagen. Who and why? What about Fleshpot, the high-priced horseflesh with a penchant for nipping backsides? Was there a horse swap when a black colt spooked and created havoc? And how does Vic himself get to be a murder suspect? Before a number of murders and much mayhem are accounted for by the Bradshaw/Plotz duo, there's a heart-in-your-throat car chase and a hilarious denouement when chaos descends on a small-town parade complete with horses, majorettes, boy scouts, and a squad of performing Irish setters. On hand also are "The Queen of Softness," Vic's cushiony girlfriend, and the ever-patient Janey Burris, who seems about to persuade Charlie to move in. One question remains: will he?

"Humorous, ironic, furious, sad, and wise, [these poems] ... are delivered in a precise, straightforward voice unafraid of pointing out that the emperor isn't wearing any clothes and revealing the often incomprehensible contraditions of human behavior"--Page 4 of cover.

Witnessing a gruesome motorcycle accident in the seaport city of New London, Connecticut, newcomer Connor Raposo sees a strangely familiar man with an Elvis haircut at the scene and is embroiled in a small-time con operation.

Saratoga Springs, the famous racing center, is again the setting for Stephen Dobyns's eighth mystery featuring Charlie Bradshaw, local cop turned private eye. This time, since Charlie is about to go on jury duty, his off-beat sidekick, Victor Plotz - "a high-on-pragmatism, low-on-ethics kind of guy" - agrees to poke around when wealthy horse owner Bernard Logan is kicked to death by a horse. Logan's death surely looks like an accident. Yet just a few days before, Logan had come looking for Charlie, convinced his wife wanted him dead. It soon turns out that a host of folks at Battlefield Farms don't much like each other. Then rats start popping up all over the place. Before the case is closed, there's plenty of mayhem and misdeed, including shenanigans at the race track. This is the kind of sophisticated, elegant story where Stephen Dobyns excels. And dedicated Dobyns fans need not fear; Charlie Bradshaw is very much on the scene. Once more the witty, moodily reflective investigator comes through as a "stand-up full-fashioned creation" (The New Yorker), with the irrepressible Victor Plotz as his perfect foil.

It's after midnight. Two gorillas are descending the side of a New York high-rise. Can that be? But this is only the beginning of Stephen Dobyns's dazzling new novel. Part quest (in pattern), part comic book (in tone), and chiefly an exploration of a young man's search for his missing fiancee, it deals with such matters as heroes, good and evil, wrestling, kidnapping, and subplots from the Brothers Grimm - all as regarded by an omniscient "camera eye". Come see Michael Marmaduke as he progresses from confused innocence to darker self-knowledge; meet Rose White and her sister Violet, along with Deep Rat, cops Brodsky and Gapski, and Primus Muldoon, manipulator of men, who calls on Nietzsche to draw aside the veil of illusion we hide behind. Stephen Dobyns has invented a compelling world where fun and puns mingle with daring make-believe, and larger-than-life characters play out the crucial human questions: How do we live? How do we handle our demons?

Another bucolic fall in northern New Hampshire, and the semester is under way at Bishop's Hill Academy. But this year the start of school has been less than tranquil. The new headmaster, Jim Hawthorne, has liberal ideas that the staff finds far from welcome. Before Hawthorne, no one interfered with the punishment of unruly students or with the long "tradition" of permanent loans to faculty of shovels, saws, even cars from the school's supplies. Eloquent as Hawthorne is on the subject of honor, rumor has it he's only taken this job to escape his past. And Hawthorne isn't the only uneasy newcomer. There's Jessica, a troubled fifteen-year-old former stripper, and Frank LeBrun, a replacement cook who's a bit too quick with a dirty joke. All three have secrets to conceal, memories to suppress. Serene on the surface, the ivy-clad, tree-lined campus gives few clues to the school's long history of special privileges, petty corruptions, and hidden allegiances. And as winter closes in, students, teachers, and staff get an education in savagery and murder.

"This accessible writer's guide provides a helpful framework for creating poetry and navigates contemporary concerns and practices. Stephen Dobyns, author of the classic book on the beauty of poetry, Best Words, Best Order, moves into new terrain in this remarkable book. Bringing years of experience to bear on issues such as subject matter, the mechanics of poetry, and the revision process, Dobyns explores the complex relationship between writers and their work. From Philip Larkin to Pablo Neruda to William Butler Yeats, every chapter reveals useful lessons in these renowned poets' work. Both enlightening and encouraging, Next Word, Better Word demystifies a subtle art form and shows writers how to overcome obstacles in the creative process"--Provided by publisher.