Laws for Creations [Paperback]

In Walt Whitman, Michael Cunningham sees a poet whose vision of humanity is ecstatic, democratic, and sensuous. Just over a hundred years ago, Whitman celebrated America as it survived the Civil War, as it endured great poverty, and as it entered the Industrial Revolution, which would make it the most powerful nation on Earth. InSpecimen DaysMichael Cunningham makes Whitman's verse sing across time, and inLaws for Creationshe celebrates what Whitman means to him, and how he appeared at the heart of his new novel.

Just as the Pulitzer Prize-winningThe Hoursdrew on the life and work of English novelist Viriginia Woolf,Specimen Dayslovingly features the work of American poet Walt Whitman. Bringing together extracts from Whitman's prodigious writings, includingLeaves of Grassand his journal,Specimen Days,Michael Cunningham'sLaws for Creationsprovides an introduction to one of America's greatest visionary poets from one of our greatest contemporary novelists.

Michael Cunninghamis the author of the bestselling novelThe Hours, which won both the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award and was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film,A Home at the End of the World, also adapted for the screen, andFlesh and Blood, all published by FSG. He lives in New York.

Inclusion of the untitled first-published version of Song of Myself and Whitman's less-studied prose will interest those more familiar with his work, and Cunningham's unique presentation of Whitman's writings-both his own esoteric favorites and the poet's most famous poems-will entice newcomers. -Publishers Weekly

Introduction by Michael Cunningham

Poetry
Selection fromLeaves of Grass, The First Edition, 1855
I celebrate myself

Selections fromLeaves of Grass, The Final Edition, 1891-1892

From Inscriptions
Poets to Come

From Children of Adam
I SinlS"