All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost

Miranda Sturgis is a genius professor of poetry at a renowned writing school who "bludgeons" her students with her critiques; she is cold, aloof, distant, and elusive. Yet Roman remains haunted by Miranda long after their grad-school affair, even as he, too, becomes a professor and an award-winning poet. In this melancholy tale of love, loss, and loneliness ultimately emphasizing that the cost of real literary success is a lonely life, author Chang (Inheritance) mines a world familiar to her: she is herself a University of Iowa English professor and director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Despite the subject matter, there is little actual poetry to this book, but, through his sublime reading, narrator Ramón De Ocampo manages to poeticize it. Those liking Muriel Barbery's Elegance of the Hedgehog, also available from HighBridge Audio, may enjoy. ["With her simple, elegant style, Chang achieves a clarity that few writers accomplish," read the review of the Norton hc, LJ 8/10.—Ed.]—Terry Ann Lawler, Phoenix P.L.