Days we would rather know

Michael Blumenthal's poetry collection is back in print more than two decades after its first release. Issued by Viking-Penguin, it went through two original printings that both sold out, and it is the work of a poet whose debut had already drawn notice from readers and critics. Blumenthal's book is a 1980s American poetry collection.

The volume gathers seventy poems that differ in range, topic and manner, yet they keep returning to one idea: life often falls short of what we want, and satisfaction is hard to reach, but hope is a remedy in its own right and the prospect of something new keeps the spirit lively.

The collection argues that our yearnings can nourish us as much as the moment we finally get what we were reaching for. Love, Blumenthal suggests, may hold less excitement than the longing for it, and that longing is itself a source of vitality.