I Praise My Destroyer: Poems - Hardcover

"Vivid, playful, abundant, these poems constitute a directory of colors, an assembly of weathers, waters, creatures, and a bold, brash, invincible vote of confidence."
--Anthony Hecht

"In I Praise My Destroyer, Diane Ackerman demonstrates once again her love for the specific language that rises from the juncture of self and the natural world, and her skillful use of that language. Whether she turns her attention to the act of eating an apricot 'the color of shame and dawn,' or to 'the omnipotence of light,' or to grief when 'All the greens of summer have blown apart,' her linking of unique images, her energetic wit and whimsy, her compassionate investment in life, always bring new pleasures and perceptions to the reader."
--Pattiann Rogers

"Diane Ackerman's I Praise My Destroyer is both moving and witty--a rare combination. Her poems express a sense of sheer joy in physical existence, which she explores in language that has its own intense life. The book is a pure pleasure."
--Louis Simpson

"Diane Ackerman's title, with its echo of Dylan Thomas and its reminder of Shakespeare's great line 'Consumed with that which it was nourished by,' reflects the zestful commitment to life which informs her new poems. They are full of physical participation in the world, human involvement, and (as one might expect of this scholar of the senses) an eloquent eye which can see 'the huge sky's thunder pockets/full of bright change.' "
--Richard Wilbur

Diane Ackerman, a poet, essayist, and naturalist, received her M.A., M.F.A., and Ph.D. from Cornell University. Her poetry has been published in leading literary journals, and in the books The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral; Wife of Light; Lady Faustus; Reverse Thunder: A Dramatic Poem; and Jaguar of Sweet Laughter: New and Selected Poems.

Her works of nonfiction include A Slender Thread; The Rarest of the Rare; A Natural History of the Senses; A Natural History of Love; the critically acclaimed The Moon by Whale Light and Other Adventures Among Bats, Crocodilians, Penguins, and Whales; and On Extended Wings, her memoir of flying. Monk Seal Hideaway and Bats: Shadows in the Night are two of her books for children.
        
She has received many prizes, including the Lavan Award from the Academy of American Poets. She has taught at a variety of universities, including Columbia and Cornell. Her essays about nature and human nature have appeared in National Geographic, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Parade.