Dying for Beauty
2000
Whether paying tribute to literary icons such as Walt Whitman and Sor Juana Ins de la Cruz, or examining global and cultural degradation, Wronsky proves to be a poet of sharp wit and endearing wonder. The crowning jewel of Dying for Beauty is "Desdemona," a nearly book-length lyric that alternates between meditation and dramatization, between discourse and incantation as it elegizes the earth and celebrates human intimacy.
Gail Wronsky reveals a mature, elegant, passionate style—a distinctive voice, entirely original. I find myself, as I read poem after poem, amazed at the freshness of her diction, her startling insights.
—Carole Muske
The Earth as Desdemona is lifted always by rhythmic urgency and a faultless, inventive music.... Wronsky is also trying to think through the poem, to reason passionately through its issues of language, gender, fear and loss.
—The Boston Review