A "dead man's float" is a survival technique used by swimmers during an exhausting journey. Reading and writing poems served as Jim Harrison's dead man's float when he gritted through the agonies and indignities of shingles and surgeries late in his life. During a lengthy convalescence, Harrison extolled fellow poets who suffered greater hardships and brutal deaths-Lorca, Machado, Mandelstam-and marveled at the beauty they created. Originally published just two months before Harrison died at his home office, Dead Man's Float shows his increasing preoccupation with time and the hardships of aging.
Complete with his final poem, Harrison's last collection bares the heart of one of America's most beloved poets.
