A new essay collection by the noted Polish poet

For Adam Zagajewskione of Polands great poetsthe project of writing, whether it be poetry or prose, is an occasion to advance what David Wojahn has characterized as his restless and quizzical quest for self-knowledge.Slight Exaggerationis an autobiographical portrait of the poet, arranged not chronologically but with that same luminous quality that distinguishes Zagajewskis spellbinding poetryan affinity for the invisible.

In a mosaic-like blend of criticism, reflections, European history, and aphoristic musings, Zagajewski tells the stories of his life in glimpses and reveriesfrom the Second World War and the occupation of Poland that left his family dispossessed to Joseph Brodskys funeral on the Venetian island of San Micheleinterspersed with intellectual interrogations of the writers and poets (D. H. Lawrence, Giorgos Seferis, Zbigniew Herbert, Paul Valry), composers and painters (Brahms, Rembrandt), and modern heroes (Helmuth James Graf von Moltke) who have influenced his work.

A wry and philosophical defense of mystery,Slight Exaggerationrecalls Zagajewskis poetry in its delicate negotiation between the earthbound and the ethereal, between brief explosions of meaning and patient wandering through the plains of ordinary days. With an enduring inclination to marvel, Zagajewski restores the world to usnecessarily incomplete and utterly astonishing.