Tape for the Turn of the Year

In the form of a journal covering the period December 6, 1963, through January 10, 1964, A. R. Ammonss long, thin poem was written on a roll of adding-machine tape, then transferred foot by foot to manuscript. He chose this method as a serious experiment in making a poem adapt to something outside itself. The tape determined both the length of the poems lines and when it ends. <em>Tape for the Turn of the Year</em> is a poem of infinite variety, blessed by the rich resources of one of this centurys greatest poets. By turns witty, serious, lyrical, and meditative, it is at once a superbly entertaining book and a significant literary achievement.