In her first collection in five years, Anne Carson contemplates ''decreation'' - an activity described by Simone Weil as ''undoing the creature in us'' - an undoing of self. But how can we undo self without moving through self, to the very inside of its definition? Where else can we start?

Anne Carson''s Decreation starts with form - the undoing of form. Form is various here: opera libretto, screenplay, poem, oratorio, essay, list, montage. The undoing is tender, but tenderness can change everything, or so the author appears to believe.

By turns exhilarating and bewildering, lucid and hermetic, Anne Carson is a maverick with a thrilling range of skills. As Charles Simic says, ''Carson takes risks, subverts literary conventions, and plays havoc with our expectations. She is a wonder: an unconventional, often difficult poet who has a huge following among today''s readers of poetry and whose work has been honoured with our most prestigious literary awards.''

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