American Primitive
Mary Oliver

Illustrators: Molly Malone Cook (Author's Photo); Lisa Paquette



Description: Boston: Little, Brown and Company / Atlantic Month Press /Atlantic-Little, Brown Books, 1983, Stated "Third Printing", of the First Edition (in the same year) in first state Dust Jacket without the "Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry" sticker on the front cover and with the Author's portrait by her long-time partner Molly Malone Cook. This tight volume is the Pulitzer Prize winning collection of poems with 96 Pages (viii, 88 pp.).

New York Times reviewer Bruce Bennetin stated that 'American Primitive', "insists on the primacy of the physical"

Holly Prado of Los Angeles Times Book Review noted that it "touches a vitality in the familiar that invests it with a fresh intensity."

Condition: Near Fine clean, tight and bright hardcover in a Very Good price-clipped Dust Jacket with a clean front cover, sticker loss to the lower spine, some creasing to the back cover and corner splitting to the upper back corner. Overall in Very Good condition, clearly well maintained by a concerned collector. 

Additional Information: Mary Jane Oliver (1935 - 2019) was an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Her work is inspired by nature, rather than the human world, stemming from her lifelong passion for solitary walks in the wild. It is characterized by a sincere wonderment at the impact of natural imagery, conveyed in unadorned language. In 2007 she was declared to be the country's best-selling poet. On a visit to Austerlitz in the late 1950s, Oliver met photographer Molly Malone Cook, who would become her partner for over forty years.

Cavemodern was founded in 2005 as a home for important "modern" books and works on paper.


"Cave" meant a home for both the tangible touch of beautiful objects and a cozy virtual den for armchair exploration. "Modern" starts with the art and literature that went beyond realistic depictions to expressive use of color, non-traditional materials, and new techniques and mediums. Our focus has evolved to be on important pieces by cultural innovators that take their work in new, unexpected, and modern directions.