While Ryan's poetry has cemented itself into the mainstream of American literature, this prose is less than interesting & feels perfunctory

A prolific reader of prose, I struggle with poetry but I enjoy the struggle. "Synthesizing Gravity: Selected Prose" is a swag of essays, over three decades, by a celebrated poet talking about poems and poetry and the practice and aesthetics of creativity, and while perhaps much of Kay Ryan’s specific commentary on and reviews of other poets’ poems flew past me, simply because I hadn’t read the poems, I do love sweet style with a beat, and this book swept me up with its prose beauty. I enjoyed her trenchant, unusual reflections called “Notes on the danger of notebooks.” Recommended for those deep into poetry or the mysteries of creativity.

I was drawn in chiefly by SYNTHESIZING GRAVITY’S brilliant title and the images it evoked. I requested it after reading and enjoying a few of Ryan’s poems. But while there were sparks of insight and interest in this, poetry is personal, no one can be everyone’s cup of tea, and Kay Ryan just didn’t hit for me. There was a plaintiveness to much of the writing that, while it could be attractive in certain moments, felt reductive and simplistic in others.

This book reminded me of my days studying English in university. Reading poems, short stories etc. and realizing there are so many ways to read them, to experience them, and finding out about so many wonderful things!

I had to chuckle a lot, smile a lot and grin a lot. It also made me want to read more poems again.

Synthesizing Gravity is a collection of Ryan's prose written over thirty years. It includes comments on poems and notes about some of my favorite poets, including Philip Larkin, Robert Frost, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens (his letters), Emily Dickinson, and William Carlos Williams. I'm a wonk. I love to read about the writers who influence my favorite creators and Kay's commentaries are insightful and almost like overhearing her think-alouds through a closed door.

In addition to her thoughts on other poets and their influence on her, I enjoyed her essay about the dangers of keeping a writing notebook. Her assertion is that the essence of creativity is in capturing the essence of memory itself, that what is needed to create is already in the mind. By writing things down, we imbue those particular utterances with an importance that may ultimately come to nothing when it is time to create. She tells you, "Almost everything is supposed to get away from us." It's not the concrete we rely on to create, it's the abstract, that ephemeral quality that is left behind when time and memory have had its way with something. We want to see, but not so much that we obfuscate the abstraction we are trying to reach for. 

We need to let memory assert its power. Writing them down and relying on those writings robs the writer of that power to simply associate what is in the mind, and trust that instinct to connect and create something meaningful. 

I get the feeling, each time I read the memoirs and meditations of the most powerful writers, what I am discovering is that there is power in crushing the obstacles that stand in the way between the artist and their creation. In other words, the more direct conduit we can find to our subconscious and the seat of our creativity, the more authentic and powerful our art will be.

A stunning, revealing read

***Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of SYNTHESIZING GRAVITY by Kay Ryan in exchange for my honest review.***

Although I am not extremely familiar with the themes treated in this book, I found this book really accessible and engaging. It makes me want to check out  Ryan's other works, especially her poetry.

I would suggest this book to anyone who likes poetry and would like to know more about it.

Synthesizing Gravity
Selected Prose
by Kay Ryan


Grove Atlantic 
Grove Press

Grove Atlantic
 Nonfiction (Adult) 
Pub Date 24 Apr 2020






I am reviewing a copy Of Synthesizing Gravity through Grove Atlantic/ Grove Press and Netgalley:





This book gathers a thirty year selection of Kay Ryan’s probings into aesthetics, poetics, and the mind in pursuit of art.






Synthesizing Gravity is a bracing collection of critical prose, book reviews reviews, and her private previously unpublished soundings of poems and poets— including Robert Frost, Stevie Smith, Marianne Moore, William Bronk, and Emily Dickinson.



This book is full of Ryan’s crisp wit, her keen off-kilter insights, and her appetite and appreciation for the genuine. Among essays like “Radiantly Indefensible, Notes on the Danger of Notebooks,” and “The Abrasion of Loneliness,” are piquant pieces on the virtues of emptiness, forgetfulness and other under-loved concepts.




Synthesizing Gravity is evident and with an introduction by Christian Wiman.



I give Synthesizing Gravity five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

Kay Ryan's voice is a joy. I so desperately enjoyed the humor and criticism present in this collection of essays. As a lover of poetry and writing, I felt in my element whilst reading this book. It is personal, humorous, poignant, and serious all at the same time. 

This collection looks at poetry and the way that art intersects with everyday life. Ryan's poetry is incredible, and it's special to read the way that he looks at poetry. 

This is a fairly niche collection, and I do not think it necessarily accessible to individuals who do not already love poetry (although I don't know if those people are the target audience). It took me longer to read than I expected it to considering its length. Overall, an enjoyable experience.

Synthesizing Gravity: Selected Prose from Kay Ryan exceeded even my most optimistic expectations. Granted, I did expect to like this but I wasn't sure how much personal insight there would be into her own work versus commentary/interpretation of other's work. Turns out to be a delightful and thoughtful mixture of both.

While one can certainly sketch some form of poetics from these essays this is not a book designed to set forth some kind of theory, at least nothing that would be restrictive or exclusive. Any theory here is what readers can, reasonably, extract from Ryan's discussions of her own processes, how she imagines other poets to have been working, and how she interprets both specific poems and complete oeuvres. 

What I took away from the book, among many things, was a better understanding of how a poet thinks, both about their own work and that of others. I know that the most lasting lessons I have learned about poetry have not been from courses constructed to teach me about poetry (though those courses were both instructive and enjoyable) but from discussions with poets about poetry. This book is like having several such discussions with an extremely accomplished poet.

While I would certainly recommend this to readers of poetry as well as poets, I think readers who might not think of themselves as liking poetry will also enjoy this collection. there are a few close readings of poems and a lot of discussion of the interface between life (personal and social) and art. Those discussions, while focused on the art of poetry, can easily be applied to art in general and any creative endeavor whatsoever.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Though I was unfamiliar with the work on most of the poets and writers discussed here (embarrassing), I found Ryan's voice so engaging that it didn't matter. I loved every essay in the fourth section, and she reminded me a lot of Lydia Davis in her love of language and her awe at the immense power it has.