Light of the World

A deeply resonant memoir for anyone who has loved and lost, from acclaimed poet and Pulitzer Prize finalist Elizabeth Alexander.

In THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, Elizabeth Alexander - poet, mother, and wife - finds herself at an existential crossroads after the death of her husband, who was just 49. Reflecting with gratitude on the exquisite beauty of her married life that was, grappling with the subsequent void, and feeling a re-energized devotion to her two teenage sons, Alexander channels her poetic sensibilities into a rich, lucid prose that describes a very personal and yet universal quest for meaning, understanding, and acceptance, taking stock of herself at the mid-century mark. This memoir is about being strong when you want to collapse, being grateful when someone has been stolen from you--but mostly, it's about discovering the truth in life's journey: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Commended for National Book Critics Circle Award (Autobiography) 2015
Commended for Books for a Better Life (Inspirational Memoir) 2016

“"With tenderness and fierce poetic precision, [Alexander] realizes a simple truth: that death only deepens the richness of a life journey that must push on into the future. A delicate, existentially elegiac memoir."-- Kirkus”

"This is a compelling memoir, told through a poetic voice that blends prose and poetry as Alexander details the death, the loss and the grief that she and her sons experience."--Neworld Review "[A] deeply touching memoir."--GOOP "Accomplished poet Elizabeth Alexander paints the lush details of a life well-lived in her memoir, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD." --The Charlotte Observer "Alexander relays the story of her husband's sudden death and how her grief affected her. Using her gift for words, however, she was able to find meaning in her loss"--BookReporter "Beautiful, warm, lyrical, honest and reverent, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD is a loving tribute to a much-loved husband, and to the strength, tenacity and determination of the wife left behind." --Winnipeg Free Press "The poet's answer to her husband's death is spiritual and ethical."--Editors' Choice, New York Times "The book is a testament to ardor, and also to profound loss."--Valley News "Like a poem, so carefully has each word, each sentence, been chosen and polished."--Entertainment Weekly "Remarkably uplifting."--The Washington Post "[Elizabeth Alexander] is gifted with an incredible ability to put words to meter and create profound meaning."--The Root "In art, in poetry and in her community of friends and family, Alexander finds divinity. The memoir itself is, of course, art. Its eloquent, grief-struck gratitude draws the reader in, and we celebrate and mourn alongside Alexander."--Miami Herald "Feel[s] authentic and true."--The Economist "[A] gorgeous and intimate tribute."--Newsday "An elegy that records, in hypnotic waves of love and grief."--New York Times, T Magazine "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD is crushing, lovely, painful, and above all powerful. It is difficult to believe that anyone who has suffered loss will remain unaffected by this marvelous book."--New York Journal of Books "She shows us how feeding your family and remembering to be aware of the small details of everyday life are the bedrocks of true connection. In this book of prose, each page is a poem."--O, The Oprah Magazine "Love - for a marvelous man, for her sons, for the textures and pleasures of the world - shines on every page of Elizabeth Alexander's THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. This acutely observed study of what it means to lose one's beloved is a profound and beautiful contradiction: a joyous book that faces head-on the deepest grief, written with art and courage, and with limitless heart."--Mark Doty "A radiant book of love's everlastingness and art's infinite sustenance."--Booklist (starred review) "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD is as beautiful and moving as a gorgeous piece of music. The minute I finished it, I longed to read it again."--Anna Deavere Smith "Elizabeth Alexander has written a brave and beautiful book about love and loss-the deep pain that comes with such a loss, and the redemptive realization that such pain is a small price to pay for such a love."--Jeannette Walls, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle "A powerfully poetic testament to living on through those we loved."--Family Circle "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD is a tale of beautiful people who made a beautiful life together-a life of delicious food, fresh flowers, music, and friends."--Los Angeles Review of Books "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD is an absolutely luminous read, the kind full of incompressible dimension best experienced in its totality."--Brain Pickings "[In THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, Elizabeth Alexander] tells a love story that is, itself, a story of loss."--WAMC Northeast Radio "This memoir is a celebration of love, life, books, family, food and friends. Reading THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD is like reading an extended narrative poem, the main character, though dead, is fully alive on the page. This is more elegy than memoir, a tribute to her husband's memory-her memories of him with her."--Tallahassee Democrat "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD is a celebration of life, a portrait of grief, and a lesson in the healing power of memory."--KMUW "A deeply intimate and lyrical portrait."--Essence "In THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, Alexander discovers a warmth that will remind some readers of the deeper truth of grieving: It is a sign of love."--New York Times Book Review "It is both raw and exquisitely crafted, mercilessly direct and sometimes lavishly metaphorical... THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD is, quite simply, a miracle."--Boston Sunday Globe "A moving tribute to her late husband's memory and a deeply felt meditation on loss, love and literature."--Publisher's Weekly "With tenderness and fierce poetic precision, [Alexander] realizes a simple truth: that death only deepens the richness of a life journey that must push on into the future. A delicate, existentially elegiac memoir."--Kirkus "This is a gorgeous love story, written by one of America's greatest contemporary poets. Graceful in its simplicity, sweeping in scope, this book is proof that behind the boarded up windows of America's roiled marriages and ruined affairs, true love still exists, and where it does exist, it graces the world-and us-with light and hope. Elizabeth Alexander is a prose writer of deep talent and affecting skill. With ease, she peels back layer after layer to show the soft secrets of affection, the kindness, and the wide open generosity of a full hearted man and talented artist, who had more love to give in his relatively short lifetime than most of us will ever know."--James McBride, National Book Award-winning author of The Good Lord Bird and #1 New York Times bestseller The Color of Water "This is a beautifully written, heartrendingly candid account of the abrupt loss of her husband by the distinguished poet Elizabeth Alexander. It is a vivid, intensely rendered elegy of a remarkable man--husband, father, artist, chef. Both a memoir and a portrait of a marriage, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD is, as its title suggests, a bittersweet testament to love and the memory of love, one of the most compelling memoirs of loss that I have ever read."--Joyce Carol Oates "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD simply took my breath away."--First Lady Michelle Obama, MORE

Elizabeth Alexander composed and recited "Praise Song for the Day" for President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration. She is the author of six books of poetry--including American Sublime, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize--and is the first winner of the Jackson Prize for Poetry and a National Endowment for the Arts and Guggenheim fellow. She is the Thomas E. Donnelley Professor of African American Studies at Yale University.

A deeply resonant memoir for anyone who has loved and lost, from acclaimed poet and Pulitzer Prize finalist Elizabeth Alexander.In THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, Elizabeth Alexander - poet, mother, and wife - finds herself at an existential crossroads after the death of her husband, who was just 49. Reflecting with gratitude on the exquisite beauty of her married life that was, grappling with the subsequent void, and feeling a re-energized devotion to her two teenage sons, Alexander channels her poetic sensibilities into a rich, lucid prose that describes a very personal and yet universal quest for meaning, understanding, and acceptance, taking stock of herself at the mid-century mark. This memoir is about being strong when you want to collapse, being grateful when someone has been stolen from you--but mostly, it's about discovering the truth in life's journey: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

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